Post-Agreement Demobilization,Disarmament, and Reconstruction:Towards a New Approach

Abstract

The thawing of the Cold War in the late eighties led the United Nations Security Council and a series of like-minded states acting multilaterally to explore the possibilities open for collective management of conflict resolution in regions affected by war or emerging from violent conflict. Not all of the ensuing peace support operations were successful in promoting or defending peace but, taken as a whole, their analysis assists in determining the challenges that any transition from conflict to peace faces in the contemporary environment. Control over warring parties, ensuring a peaceful transition to the establishment of a democratically elected government, managing demobilization processes, reviewing defence and security structures to serve the needs of peace time, and establishing law, order, and infrastructures to ensure sustainable development of affected countries are all seen — or should be seen — as part of a continuum. The comprehensive nature of a peace engagement is not today disputed. The early strategies of massively engaging on the ground in order to bring peace and then seeking an early exit without focusing on the consolidation of peace and security in the emerging state are now being replaced by a long-haul process which is unpopular but unavoidable.