Summary
Gert de Nooy
Veiligheid en wederopbouw: integratie met beperkingen?
Gert de Nooy looks at the intricate and complex relationship between 'human security' and successful reconstruction in post-conflict situations. Introducing the dilemma, it is argued that restoring order is by no means a guarantee for lasting security. Moreover, military intervention is only a very first step towards a very complicated transition, with reconstruction of the state as the ultimate objective. But blueprints of future state structures guaranteeing and providing both collective and individual security are - in most cases - shrouded in dense fog. Analysing two recent incidents in Iraq and Afghanistan, the author argues that, although the areas for reconstruction activities are in theory well-defined, in practice the presence of security guarantees and 'guarantors' is the overriding precondition for a successful state reconstruction. However, as the transition process unfolds, this precondition is influenced by three separate developments: transferring security tasks from external to internal guarantors; developing of both a normative compass (Constitution or Code of Conduct) and proper risk-management tools; and the day-to-day prioritising of security as such. To minimise the negative effects the author advocates an integrated, localised approach to the provision of security whilst reconstructing. The relatively successful PRT model used in Afghanistan should include local and regional security-needs assessments and introduce a variety of field specialists in order to improve local and regional capacity building.