Reintegrating Armed Groups After Conflict by Berdal, Mats; Ucko, David;

Short description:

This book looks at the political reintegration of armed groups after civil wars.

Long description:

This book looks at the political reintegration of armed groups after civil wars and the challenges of transforming ‘rebel’, ‘insurgent’ or other non-state armed groups into viable political entities.

Drawing on eight case studies, the definition of ‘armed groups’ here ranges from militias, paramilitary forces, police units of various kinds to intelligence outfits. Likewise, the definition of ‘political integration’ or ‘re-integration’ has not been restricted to the formation of political parties, but is understood broadly as active participation in politics, policy-making or public debate through parties, newspapers, social organisations, think-tanks, NGOs or public service.

The book seeks to locate or contextualise individual cases within their distinctive social, cultural and historical settings. As such it differs from much of the donor-driven literature that has tended to abstract the challenge of disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) from their political and historical context, focusing instead on technical or bureaucratic issues raised by the DDR process. Among the issues covered by the volume as a whole, three stand out: first, the role of political settlements in creating legitimate opportunities for erstwhile leaders of armed factions; second, the ability of reintegration programmes to create genuine socio-economic opportunities that can absorb former fighters as functional members of their communities; and third, the processes involved in transforming an entire rebel movement into a viable political party, movement or, more generally, allowing it to participate in political life.

This book will be of great interest to students of security and development, peace and conflict studies, and IR in general, as well as practitioners and policymakers.

Mats Berdal is Professor of Security and Development in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London. From 2000 to 2003 he was Director of Studies at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in London. Mats Berdal is a Visiting Professor at the National Defence and Command College, Oslo.

David Ucko is the Programme Coordinator & Research Fellow for the Conflict, Security & Development Research Group, King's College London.

'This is an important book that should be at the top of the reading lists of practitioners and policymakers involved in peacekeeping, counter-insurgency, post-conflict stability and DDR efforts.'
H.R. McMaster, Survival

Table of Contents:

Introduction: The Political Reintegration of Armed Groups Mats Berdal and David Ucko  1. The Way Back In: Reintegrating Illegal Armed Groups in Colombia Then and Now Alexandra Guáqueta  2. R before D: the Case of Post Conflict Reintegration in Tajikistan Stina Torjesen & S. Neil MacFarlane  3. Bureaucratic Façade and Political Realities of Disarmament and Demobilisation in Afghanistan Antonio Giustozzi  4. Militias, Tribes and Insurgents: The Challenge of Political Reintegration in Iraq  David Ucko  5. Flip-Flop Rebel, Dollar Soldier: Demobilisation in the Democratic Republic of Congo Zoë Marriage  6. The Challenge of DDR in Northern Uganda: The Lord's Resistance Army Anna Borzello  7. Engaging with Disengagement: The Political Integration of Sierra Leone’s Revolutionary United Front (RUF)  Kieron Mitton  8. Beyond Bullets to Ballots: The Political Reintegration of UNITA in Angola Alex Vines & Bereni Oruitemeka