Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T03:58:36.489Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Police assistance as foreign policy: Explaining donor practices

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 September 2015

CORNELIUS FRIESENDORF
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Police assistance is an important, albeit understudied aspect of foreign policy. While many scholars have studied international and transnational policing, it remains largely unknown why donor police forces often support their colleagues in fragile states in different ways. This article discusses a variety of potential explanations of police assistance: a domestic rational actor model; a constructivist focus on international norms; and theories on the use of force by democracies. While all of these explanations are relevant, this article shows that they remain incomplete without studying police organisations and how these implement assistance on the ground. As the organisational cultures of donor police agencies differ, so do their assistance practices. The case of German and Italian police assistance in Afghanistan illustrates the relevance of an organisational approach: despite operating in the same environment, German police officers promoted civilian and Italian Carabinieri militarised policing. The article stresses that explaining security assistance, an important form of indirect intervention in fragile states, requires zooming in on policy implementation and policy implementers.

Type
Articles
Information
Review of International Studies , Volume 42 , Issue 2 , April 2016 , pp. 377 - 400
Copyright
© 2015 British International Studies Association 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Drafts of this article were presented at workshops and conferences in Madrid (6 June 2013), Magdeburg (9 January 2014), Frankfurt am Main (23 January, 17 July, and 7 August 2014), and Toronto (27 March 2014). For comments and information I thank the participants, Anna Belogurova, Fabrizio Coticchia, Thiago Rodrigues, Ursula Schroeder, the interviewees, and three anonymous reviewers.

2 Andreas, Peter and Nadelmann, Ethan, Policing the Globe: Criminalization and Crime Control in International Relations (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006)Google Scholar, ch. 2.

3 Lipsky, Michael, Street-Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of the Individual in Public Services (New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1980)Google Scholar.

4 See, for example, Huggins, Martha K., Political Policing: The United States and Latin America (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1998)Google Scholar.

5 Bayley, David H., Patterns of Policing: A Comparative International Analysis, first paperback edition (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1990), pp. 5–7Google Scholar.

6 See, for example, Greener, Bethan K., ‘International policing and International Relations’, International Relations, 26:2 (2012), pp. 181–198CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

7 Bayley, David H. and Perito, Robert M., The Police in War: Fighting Insurgency, Terrorism, and Violent Crime (Boulder, CO and London: Lynne Rienner, 2010)Google Scholar, ch. 6.

8 Call, Charles, ‘Competing donor approaches to post-conflict police reform’, Conflict, Security & Development, 2:1 (2002), pp. 99–109CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

9 Mazrui, Ali A., ‘Soldiers as traditionalizers: Military rule and the re-Africanization of Africa’, Journal of Asian and African Studies, 28:2 (1976), pp. 246–272Google Scholar (p. 240).

10 Cronin, Stephanie, ‘Building and rebuilding Afghanistan’s army: An historical perspective’, The Journal of Military History, 75:1 (2011), pp. 45–91Google Scholar.

11 Sinclair, Georgina, ‘Exporting the UK Police “brand”: The RUC-PSNI and the international policing agenda’, Policing, 6:1 (2012), pp. 55–66CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

12 Nadelmann, Ethan A., Cops Across Borders: The Internationalization of U.S. Criminal Law Enforcement (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1993)Google Scholar.

13 Meyer, John W., Drori, Gili S., Hwang, and Hokyu, ‘World society and the proliferation of formal organization’, in Gili S. Drori, John W. Meyer, and Hokyu Hwang (eds), Globalization and Organization: World Society and Organizational Change (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006), pp. 25–49Google Scholar.

14 Andreas, Peter and Nadelmann, Ethan, Policing the Globe: Criminalization and Crime Control in International Relations (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008)Google Scholar, chs 3 and 4.

15 See, also for a review of relevant writings, Friesendorf, Cornelius, International Intervention and the Use of Force: Military and Police Roles, SSR Paper No. 4 (Geneva: DCAF, 2012)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

16 Posen, Barry R., The Sources of Military Doctrine: France, Britain, and Germany Between the World Wars (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1984)Google Scholar.

17 Interviews with officials of the United Nation Development Programme (UNDP), Kabul, 9 October 2010 and 12 July 2011.

18 Friesendorf, Cornelius, The Military and Law Enforcement in Peace Operations: Lessons from Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo (Vienna and Geneva: LIT and DCAF, 2010)Google Scholar, chs 3 and 4.

19 Stanley, William, The Protection Racket State: Elite Politics, Military Extortion, and Civil War in El Salvador (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1996), p. 20Google Scholar.

20 March, James and Simon, Herbert, Organizations (2nd edn, Oxford: Blackwell, 1993), p. 16Google Scholar.

21 See, for example, Kraska, Peter, ‘Militarization and policing – its relevance to 21st century policing’, Policing, 1:4 (2007), pp. 501–513CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

22 Davis, Diane E., ‘Undermining the rule of law: Democratization and the dark side of police reform in Mexico’, Latin American Politics and Society, 48:1 (2006), pp. 55–86CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

23 Hills, Alice E., ‘Partnership policing: Is it relevant in Kano, Nigeria?, Criminology and Criminal Justice, 14:1 (2014), pp. 8–24CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

24 Eden, Lynn, Whole World on Fire: Organizations, Knowledge, and Nuclear Weapons Devastation (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2004)Google Scholar.

25 Martens, Bertin, ‘Introduction’, in Bertin Martens, with Uwe Mummert, Peter Murrell, and Paul Seabright, The Institutional Economics of Foreign Aid (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), pp. 1–33CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

26 Heyer, Garth Den, The Role of Civilian Policing in Peacekeeping, 1999–2007 (Washington, DC: Police Foundation, 2012)Google Scholar.

27 Weisburg, David and Braga, Anthony A. (eds), Police Innovation: Contrasting Perspectives (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

28 Farrell, Theo, ‘Transnational norms and military development: Constructing Ireland's professional army’, European Journal of International Relations, 7:1 (2001), pp. 63–102CrossRefGoogle Scholar (p. 73).

29 Bowling, Ben and Sheptycki, James, Global Policing (London: Sage Publications, 2012), p. 5CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

30 Reiner, Robert, The Politics of the Police (4th edn, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), p. 7CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

31 Marenin, Otwin, ‘Building a global police studies community’, Police Quarterly, 8:1 (2005), pp. 99–136CrossRefGoogle Scholar (p. 107).

32 Bayley, David H., Democratizing the Police Abroad: What to Do and How to Do It (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, 2001), pp. 13–15Google Scholar.

33 Legro, Jeffrey W., ‘Which norms matter? Revisiting the ‘failure’ of Internationalism’, International Organization, 51:1 (1997), pp. 31–63CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

34 United Nations, ‘Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials’, adopted by General Assembly Resolution 34/169 of 17 December 1979; Council of Europe, ‘The European Code of Police Ethics’, Recommendation Rec(2001)10 adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on 19 September 2001 and Explanatory Memorandum (Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing, March 2002); OSCE, Guidebook on Democratic Policing (2nd edn, Vienna: Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe, May 2008).

35 Rotmann, Philipp, ‘First steps towards a police doctrine for UN Peace Operations (2001–2006)’, Policing and Society, 21:1 (2011), pp. 84–95CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

36 Interview with German police officer with significant mission experience, Wiesbaden (Germany), 6 November 2014.

37 On how robust police forces market themselves, see the website of the European Gendarmerie Force: {www.eurogendfor.org} accessed 4 June 2015.

38 Hills, Alice E., ‘The possibility of transnational policing’, Policing and Society, 19:3 (2009), pp. 300–317CrossRefGoogle Scholar (p. 301).

39 Celador, Gemma Collantes, ‘Becoming “European” through police reform: A successful strategy in Bosnia and Herzegovina?’, Crime, Law & Social Change, 51:2 (2009), pp. 231–242CrossRefGoogle Scholar (p. 237).

40 Bayley, David H., Changing the Guard: Developing Democratic Police Abroad (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006), p. 101Google Scholar.

41 Interview, Gimborn, Germany, 8 December 2013.

42 Lake, David, ‘The practice and theory of US Statebuilding’, Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, 4:3 (2010), pp. 257–284CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

43 See Owen, John M., ‘How liberalism produces democratic peace’, International Security, 19:2 (1994), pp. 174–184CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

44 de Mesquita, Bueno, Bruce, , Cherif, Feryal, Downs, George, and Smith, Alastair, ‘Thinking inside the box: A closer look at democracy and human rights’, International Studies Quarterly, 49:3 (2005), pp. 439–458CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

45 Porta, Donatella della and Reiter, Herbert (eds), Policing Protest: The Control of Mass Demonstrations in Western Europe (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2006)Google Scholar.

46 Casey, John, Policing the World: The Practice of International and Transnational Policing (Durham, North Carolina: Carolina Academic Press, 2010), pp. 7–14Google Scholar.

47 Mawby, Rob I., ‘Models of policing’, in Tim Newburn (ed.), Handbook of Policing (2nd edn, Cullompton, Devon: Willan Publishing, 2008), pp. 17–46Google Scholar.

48 Kuhns, Joseph B. and Knutsson, Johannes (eds), Police Use of Force: A Global Perspective (Santa Barbara: Praeger, 2010)Google Scholar.

49 Doğutaş, Cemil, Dolu, Osman, and Kenan Gül, Serdar, ‘A comparative study of the [sic] police training in the United Kingdom, the United States and Turkey’, Turkish Journal of Police Studies, 9:1–4 (2007), pp. 1–20Google Scholar.

50 See, for example, Goldsmith, Andrew, ‘“It wasn't like normal policing”: Voices of Australian Police peacekeepers in Operation Serene, Timor-Leste 2006’, Policing and Society, 19:2 (2009), pp. 119–133CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

51 Wilson, James Q., Varieties of Police Behavior (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1968)Google Scholar, ch. 8.

52 Farrell, Theo, The Norms of War: Cultural Beliefs and Modern Conflict (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2005), pp. 6–7Google Scholar.

53 Allison, Graham and Zelikow, Philip, Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis (2nd edn, Massachusetts: Longman, 1999), p. 164Google Scholar.

54 Legro, Jeffrey W., Cooperation Under Fire: Anglo-German Restraint During World War II (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1995), p. 19Google Scholar.

55 Manning, Peter K., ‘The police occupational culture in Anglo-American societies’, in William G. Bailey (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Police Science (New York: Garland Publishing, 1995), pp. 472–475Google Scholar (p. 472).

56 Zelikow, Allison and, Essence of Decision, p. 152Google Scholar.

57 Legro, Which Norms Matter?

58 On culture as context, see Gray, Colin S., ‘Strategic culture as context: The first generation of theory strikes back’, Review of International Studies, 25:1 (1999), pp. 49–69CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

59 Giddens, Anthony, The Nation-State and Violence: Volume Two of a Contemporary Critique of Historical Materialism (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1985)Google Scholar.

60 Bayley, Patterns of Policing, chs 2 and 3.

61 Reiner, , The Politics of the Police, p. 7Google Scholar.

62 Mawby, , ‘Models of policing’, p. 18Google Scholar.

63 Halperin, Morton H. and Clapp, Priscilla A., Bureaucratic Politics and Foreign Policy (2nd edn, Washington DC: Brookings, 2006), p. 27Google Scholar.

64 Peilert, Andreas und Kösling, Willy, ‘Bundespolizei, vormals Bundesgrenzschutz’ (Federal Police, previously Federal Border Police), in Hermann Groß, Bernhard Frevel und Carsten Dams (eds), Handbuch der Polizeien Deutschlands (Handbook of German police forces) (Wiesbaden: Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, 2008), pp. 555–590Google Scholar.

65 Sharifzadeh, Natalie, 200 gesicherte Helden auf Grenzgang: Polizeiaufbau in Afghanistan (200 secured heroes on the borderline: police-building in Afghanistan) (Marburg: Tectum, 2013), p. 89Google Scholar.

66 Interview with Police Director Wilhelm Schulz, Head of the German Police Project Team (GPPT) and Deputy Head of the Federal Police, Kabul, 21 July 2013.

67 Cited in: Jan-Phillipp Weiswange, 60 Jahre Bundespolizei (60 years of Federal Police), Strategie & Technik (2011), pp. 79–82 (p. 81).

68 The head of the Operations Department of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Border Police, Jovo Đurica, called his organisation a ‘child’ of the Federal Border Police. Interview, Sarajevo, 1 July 2008.

69 Friesendorf, Cornelius, ‘Paramilitarization and security sector reform: The Afghan National Police’, International Peacekeeping, 18:1 (2011), pp. 79–95CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

70 Information provided by Police Director Eckehard Wache, Federal Police, Loccum, 8 April 2010.

71 Interview with GPPT officer, Police Training Center, Kunduz, 28 July 2013; ANP Initial Police Training Course: Trainer’s Guide, Version 2.0, July 2012 (on file with the author).

72 Interview with Federal police officer, Kabul, 11 October 2010.

73 Interview with GPPT officer, Mazar-e Sharif, July 2013.

74 Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs, Afghan National Police Strategy (Kabul: March 2010).

75 Interview with Police Director Wilhelm Schulz, Kabul, 21 July 2013.

76 This figure was confirmed to the author in an interview with Major General Dean Milner, Deputy Commanding General NTM-A, Kabul, 21 July 2013.

77 Kilcullen, David, The Accidental Guerilla: Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), pp. 61–62Google Scholar.

78 Giustozzi, Antonio and Isaqzadeh, Mohammed, Policing Afghanistan (London: Hurst, 2013), p. 49CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

79 Interview with GPPT officer, Kunduz, July 2013.

80 Interview with PTC Kunduz, July 2013.

81 Interview with GPPT officer, Kunduz, July 2013.

82 Sharifzadeh, , 200 gesicherte Helden, p. 120Google Scholar.

83 See its website, at: {www.bundespolizei.de/DE/06Die-Bundespolizei/Aufgaben-Verwendungen/International/IPM/GPPT.html} accessed 7 July 2014, emphasis added.

84 Phone interview, September 2010; interview, Berlin, 9 December 2010.

85 Collin, Richard O., ‘The blunt instruments: Italy and the police’, in John Roach and Jürgen Thomaneck (eds), Police and Public Order in Europe (London: Crooom Helm, 1985), pp. 185–214Google Scholar (p. 195).

86 Oliva, Gianni and Carabinieri, Storia dei, Immagine e Autorappresentazione dell’Arma, 1814–1992 (The story of the Carabinieri: Image and self-image of the force, 1814–1992) (Milano: Leonardo, 1992)Google Scholar.

87 See the overview at: {www.carabinieri.it/Internet/Arma/Oggi/Missioni} accessed 28 February 2015.

88 US State Department, Italian Carabinieri training for Afghanistan (11 March 2008), Confidential State 024923, published by Wikileaks at: {www.wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/08STATE24923_a.html} accessed 15 June 2014.

89 Interview with Captain Ernesto Sorvillo (Carabinieri), Kabul, 22 July 2013.

90 US State Department, ‘Getting Italy to do more in Afghanistan’ (13 February 2009), Secret Section 01 of 05 Rome 000177, published by Wikileaks at: {http://www.wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/09ROME177_a.html} accessed 15 June 2014.

91 Interview with Captain Ernesto Sorvillo (Carabinieri), Kabul, 22 July 2013.

92 Interview with Brigadier General Jefforey Smith (US Army), NTM-A, Kabul, 23 July 2011.

93 Interview with Brigadier General Sebastiano Comitini (Carabinieri, Command General, Combined Training Advisory Group – Police, NTM-A), Kabul, 13 July 2011.

94 Interview with Captain Augusto Sorvillo (Carabinieri), Kabul, 22 July 2013.

95 In southern Iraq in 2003, a suicide bombing killed 12 Carabinieri, the largest single loss of life of Italian military personnel since the Second World War.

96 Perito, Robert M., Where is the Lone Ranger When We Need Him? America’s Role for a Postconflict Stability Force (Washington DC: United States Institute of Peace Press, 2004)Google Scholar.

97 Personal observation of ANP training and interviews with Carabinieri conducted at the Central Training Center in October 2010 and July 2011, and at the Kabul Military Training Center in October 2010.

98 Interview with Carabinieri Captain, Central Training Center, Kabul, 11 October 2010.

99 Interview with Carabinieri officer, Kabul, July 2013.

100 Interview, Central Training Center, Kabul, October 2010.

101 See, for example, Carabinieri Training Unit, Individual Combat Training (Central Training Center Kabul, Edizione 2010) (no page numbers), on file with the author.

102 Interview with Captain Augusto Sorvillo (Carabinieri), Kabul, 22 July 2013.

103 Interview with GPPT officers, Mazar-e Sharif, 30 July 2013.

104 Interview, Kabul, October 2010.

105 United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, Afghanistan Mid-year Report 2014: Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict (Kabul: UNAMA, July 2014), p. 18.

106 See Bundesgesetzblatt, Jahrgang 2008 Teil II Nr. 9, Bonn (7 Mai 2008), available at: {www.bgbl.de/banzxaver/bgbl/start.xav?start=//*%5B@attr_id='bgbl208s0286.pdf'%5D#__bgbl__%2F%2F*%5B%40attr_id%3D'bgbl208s0286.pdf'%5D__1404479723645} accessed 4 July 2014.

107 NATO Training Mission – Afghanistan (NTM-A), Public Diplomacy Division, NATO HQ Brussels (n.d.) available at: {www.nato.int/nato_static/assets/pdf/pdf_2010_04/20110310_110422-media-backgrounder-NTMA.pdf} accessed 18 June 2014.

108 Documentation on police building in Afghanistan from 2002–8 by Winfried Nachtwei, a former member of parliament, on file with the author, p. 14.

109 Interview, PTC Kunduz, July 2013

110 Ignazi, Piero, Giacomello, Giampiero, Coticchia, and Fabrizio, Italian Military Operations Abroad: Just Don’t Call It War (Houndsmill: Palgrave, 2012), p. 136CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

111 Collin, , ‘The blunt instrument’, p. 186Google Scholar.

112 Interview with Captain Augusto Sorvillo (Carabinieri), Kabul, 22 July 2013.

113 Huggins, Political Policing.

114 Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR): Afghan National Police: More than $300 Million in Annual, U.S.-funded Salary Payments Is Based on Partially Verified or Reconciled Data (Washington DC: SIGAR, January 2015).

115 United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, Afghanistan Annual Report 2014: Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict (Kabul: UNAMA, February 2015), p. 35.

116 Mazrui, ‘Soldiers as traditionalizers’.

117 Davis, Diane E. and Pereira, Anthony W. (eds), Irregular Armed Forces and Their Role In Politics and State Formation (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003)CrossRefGoogle Scholar, Part II.