Stabilization Operations, Security and Development ─ States of Fragility

This edited volume provides a balanced overview of the new stabilization agenda in international relations. The primary focus of so-called 'stabilization' activities since 9/11 has been Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq. This volume provides a representative and balanced overview of the new stabilization agenda, which covers the wider picture, including the expansion of stabilization efforts in Latin America, the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia. By harnessing the findings of assessments undertaken in Brazil, Colombia, Haiti, Jamaica, Kenya, DRC, Sudan, and Sri Lanka, the volume demonstrates the impacts – intended and otherwise – of stabilization in practice. By considering the consequences of stabilization in settings outside Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq, the volume draws attention to the international legal parameters of intervention, the evolving dynamics of armed conflict and post-war violence, the challenges confronted by different sectors operating in integrated missions, and the varied implications of stabilization for civilians.

The book clarifies the debate on stabilization, focusing primarily on the policy, practice and outcomes of such operations. Rather than relying on existing military doctrine or academic writings, the volume focuses on stabilization as it is actually occurring. Drawing on practitioners and practitioner-academics, the volume identifies the origins and historical antecedents of contemporary stabilization operations, and also examines how stabilization is linked to other policy spheres – ranging from peacebuilding to statebuilding. Finally, the volume reviews more than eight practical cases of stabilization in disparate regions around the globe.

This book will be of much interest to students of war and conflict studies, peacekeeping and peacebuilding, statebuilding, development studies and IR in general.

Robert Muggah is the Research Director of the Igarape Institute, a Principal of the SecDev Group, and a Professor at the Instituto de Relacoes Internacionais, Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He also advises the United Nations and a number of bilateral and multilateral agencies on issues of security and development.