Security Sector Reform in Timor-Leste: Missed Opportunities and Hard Lessons in Empowering the Host-Nation

Abstract

In 1999, the people of East Timor voted, overwhelmingly, against a proposal that would make their island an autonomous province of the Republic of Indonesia. Though it appeared that all of the factors for a successful transition from conflict to peace and stability were present and it was expected that establishing a new state would be fairly straightforward, surprisingly, to the International Community, this was not the case. This paper examines the United Nation's (UN) efforts in Timor-Leste (formerly East Timor) as an important case for the study of SSR and postconflict stabilization and reconstruction. The authors argue that, despite presumed favorable conditions especially when contrasted against other contemporary peace support operations, the SSR program has failed. The paper begins with a brief history of the UN's efforts at SSR in Timor-Leste and then presents an analytical framework to assess these efforts based on the Guiding Principles for Stabilization and Reconstruction, co-authored by the U.S. Institute of Peace and U.S.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 01, 2012
Accession Number
ADA568682

Entities

People

  • Isaac Kfir
  • Jacqueline Chura-beaver
  • Nicholas J. Armstrong

Organizations

  • United States Army War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Engineered Resilient Systems
  • Human Systems
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Case Studies
  • Counterterrorism
  • Failed States
  • Governments
  • International Law
  • International Relations
  • Law
  • Military Science
  • National Governments
  • National Security
  • Organizational Structure
  • Personnel Management
  • Political Systems
  • Security
  • Security Personnel
  • Students
  • War Colleges

Fields of Study

  • History

Readers

  • Computational Modeling and Simulation
  • East Asian Political and Security Studies within the Soviet Union
  • Military and Counterinsurgency Studies.