Evaluations of Female Engagement Teams (FETs) used by the military to engage with women in Afghanistan that are available indicate that: Female soldiers have had a deescalating effect as Afghan males generally accepted females being searched as long as it was done by other females. FETs have had positive engagement with both women and men and were viewed as a kind of ‘third ...» more
Security sector
Links between women’s empowerment (or lack of) and outbreaks of violent conflict
A number of studies quantitatively find a strong correlation between levels of gender inequality and conflict. They find that gender inequality increases the likelihood that a state will have internal conflict and international disputes. There is substantial evidence that traditional patriarchal gender identities lead to militaristic and violent conflict approaches. Women ...» more
Strategic communications and foreign fighters
Key Findings: There is limited coverage of strategic communications programmes specifically aiming to prevent the recruitment of citizens who travel to conflict zones to become foreign fighters. There is relatively more coverage of strategic communications with respect to broader counter-radicalisation or countering violent extremism (CVE) approaches, but there are few case ...» more
The role of security organisations in security sector reform
There is consensus that donor approaches to SSR have failed to achieve the ambitious goals and objectives espoused in policy documents. Debates in recent literature centre on the reasons for this ‘policy-practice gap’ (Sedra, 2010; Bakrania, 2014b). Key themes include: There is agreement in the literature that donor assistance has generally taken an apolitical and technical ...» more
Libya: border security and regional cooperation
This rapid literature review examines security-related developments that determine Libya’s relationships with its neighbours – Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Niger, Sudan and Tunisia. The report also looks at the incentives for neighbouring countries to maintain or develop regional relationships or cross-border mechanisms with Libya and the main challenges in implementing them. It also ...» more