In the first chapter, Ranj Alaaldin considers the contextual dimension of conflict-ridden and transitioning societies in the region and explores the consequences of inadequate governance, short-sighted or biased policies on the part of the state, or the proliferation of non-state militias and the novel coronavirus on the deployment of effective SSR and DDR initiatives. [...] In the MENA region, history has generally been kind to the Arab state: since the Westphalian nation-state system was established from the ruins of the Ottoman empire in the early XX century, the international system has resisted any challenges to sovereignty, as well as attempts to disrupt territorial boundaries and the delicate balance of power in the region. [...] There needs to be a re-evaluation of how policymakers view and address complex, inter-connected issues: the future of sovereignty, the role, responsibilities and accountability of the state; and the role, responsibilities and accountability of non- state actors; and the relationships that external powers want and should have with local state and non-state actors are questions that are central to a. [...] The orthodox approach to engaging issues of political violence, state fragility and the reconstruction and stabilisation of war-torn or unstable countries has involved working through the state, despite the inability of the state to monopolise the use of force and deliver adequate justice and security, and despite the extremely poor track-record of assistance with reconstruction and stabilisation. [...] Similarly, the conduct and atrocities committed by the Northern Alliance in the battle against the Taliban, sometimes with the acquiescence of US forces, can be said to have laid the foundations for the conflict and tensions that exist today between the plethora of different Afghan factions and their militias.
- Pages
- 114
- Published in
- Italy
