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"This book explores the political dilemmas around security forces in war-torn countries. Well-governed military and police forces are central to sustained peace after civil war, and efforts to restructure security forces are major components of peacebuilding and stabilization efforts. As international actors have attempted to strengthen oversight and curb abuse, however, they have run into thorny political obstacles. Varied outcomes have raised questions about the value of international assistance for strengthening state institutions"--

Does restructuring security forces reduce the risk of civil war recurrence? Prior research has examined effects of military integration in alleviating commitment problems, but the evidence has been inconclusive. Other aspects of civil–military relations have received less attention. This article examines the effects of civil–military relations in the context of postwar struggles to consolidate authority. It outlines three pathways through which security forces contribute to renewed civil war: by excluding rival factions and facilitating insurgent mobilization, by exploiting control over resources to challenge the regime, or by escalating incipient insurgency through repression. Analysis of original, cross-national data on postwar civil–military relations shows that reducing the potential for exclusion and exploitation through diverse officer appointments and robust civilian oversight lowers the risk of civil war. These findings emphasize the distributive effects of restructuring security forces and highlight the value of examining political contests around state institutions to understand why civil wars restart.

Does restructuring security forces reduce the risk of civil war recurrence? Prior research has examined effects of military integration in alleviating commitment problems, but the evidence has been inconclusive. Other aspects of civil–military relations have received less attention. This article examines the effects of civil–military relations in the context of postwar struggles to consolidate authority. It outlines three pathways through which security forces contribute to renewed civil war: by excluding rival factions and facilitating insurgent mobilization, by exploiting control over resources to challenge the regime, or by escalating incipient insurgency through repression. Analysis of original, cross-national data on postwar civil–military relations shows that reducing the potential for exclusion and exploitation through diverse officer appointments and robust civilian oversight lowers the risk of civil war. These findings emphasize the distributive effects of restructuring security forces and highlight the value of examining political contests around state institutions to understand why civil wars restart.

Does foreign aid strengthen or weaken post-conflict states? We examine the effects of aid on tax collection after civil war, an important dimension of state effectiveness. While the literature emphasizes aid's perverse effects, the relationship between aid dependence and the growth of tax collection is unclear. We argue that the impact of aid reflects its political utility for ruling elites in consolidating their authority after civil war. While dominant parties subvert tax strengthening reforms to solidify their political base, elites in more fractionalized settings rely on external political backing to manage internal challenges to their authority, and are more likely to comply with donor conditions. We test this argument through a Latent Curve Analysis of tax collection rate growth in post-civil war countries from 1978 to 2012. We find that aid is associated with slower growth in tax collection in dominant party settings, and more rapid tax growth in politically fractionalized settings. The findings highlight the need for attention to internal political dynamics to explain aid effectiveness after civil war, and point to opportunities to strengthen institutions in some post-conflict countries.

What accounts for geographic variation in organized criminal violence? In Honduras, a country with one of the highest homicide rates in the world, the intensity of violence rivals many civil wars. Yet violent crime varies across cities and neighborhoods. Armed groups seeking to control territory use violence for different purposes, including competing against rivals, coercing residents and state officials, and exploiting the public for profit. Variations in community organization, defined as the density of interpersonal ties and the prevalence of shared expectations for collective action, affect the utility of violence for each of these purposes. Community organization can raise the cost of controlling territory, reduce the benefits of coercive violence, and generate pressure to protect residents from exploitation. These dynamics are examined through a comparison of nine neighborhoods in three of Honduras's most violent cities, drawing from disaggregated homicide data and ethnographic research. The comparison shows that neighborhoods with denser community organization experienced lower levels of violence. Narrative evidence points to specific ways in which community organization mediates effects of competition among criminal groups and their interaction with state officials. Community characteristics thus affect the way non-state armed actors exercise authority in areas of limited state presence.

Violent crime has emerged as a growing development challenge, affecting large segments of societies, and taking a severe toll on economic development. In many high crime environments, weak institutions, fiscal constraints, and political resistance have undermined the effectiveness of development programs and threatened their sustainability. The World Bank has begun to confront this challenge. The country of Honduras is the most violent in the world as measured by its homicide rate, which reached 90.4 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2012. This report presents the findings of a study of crime dynamics and prevention practices focused around a comparison of nine neighborhoods in three of the most violent cities in Honduras: La Ceiba, El Progreso, and Choloma. The research revealed that although the transnational drug trade, economic downturn, and political crisis have deepened the country's vulnerability, some neighborhoods have successfully prevented crime. Drawing from extensive qualitative research in these neighborhoods, the study identified practices that communities pursue to prevent violence through collective responses. It also examined the characteristics of communities, societal factors, and institutional context that have enabled or constrained these responses. The research points to measures that can be built upon, scaled up, and tested through future research and programming to strengthen community-based crime prevention. It illustrates how deep examination of the dynamics of insecurity - and the ways communities manage it - can inform efforts to improve public safety in violence-prone countries.

Introduction: New Perspectives on Security Sector Reform: The Role of Local Agency and Domestic Politics / Ursula C. Schroeder & Fairlie Chappuis 133. - From Weakness to Strength: The Political Roots of Security Sector Reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina / Louis-Alexandre Berg 149. - Security Sector or Security Arena? The Evidence from Somalia / Alice Hills 165. - Reformed or Deformed? Patronage Politics, International Influence, and the Palestinian Authority Security Forces / Kimberly Marten 181. - Resistance in the Time of Cholera: The Limits of Stabilization through Securitization in Haiti Nicolas / Lemay-Hébert 198. - Security Sector Reform and the Emergence of Hybrid Security Governance / Ursula C. Schroeder, Fairlie Chappuis & Deniz Kocak 214. - The International Intervention and its Impact on Security Governance in North-East Afghanistan / Jan Koehler & Kristóf Gosztony/ 231. - Overcoming the State/Non-state Divide: An End User Approach to Security and Justice Reform / Lisa Denney 251. - From Paternalism to Facilitation: SSR Shortcomings and the Potential of Social Anthropological Perspectives / Sabine Mannitz 269

Though Africa historically has been the site of countless military coups d'état, civil-military relations across the continent have changed dramatically in recent years. What do these changes say about the military's ongoing role in Africa's political and social institutions? How useful are conventional models for understanding civil-military relations in the African context? The authors of Rethinking Civil-Military Relations in Africa address these questions, exploring the nature and significance of evolving relationships between political authority, military power, and society