New Year’s 2016 – Getting the Right Perspective

Coming off of a way-too-short Christmas vacation, I sat down in front of my computer this morning only to be confronted by more than 400, unread security and conflict-related emails. [Happy New Year, I guess!]  One contained a link to a Foreign Policy feature article titled:  “10 Conflicts to Watch in 2016,” in which the author began with this cheerful observation:

For 20 years after the end of the Cold War, deadly conflict was in decline. Fewer wars were killing fewer people the world over. Five years ago, however, that positive trend went into reverse, and each year since has seen more conflict, more victims, and more people displaced. 2016 is unlikely to bring an improvement from the woes of 2015: It is war — not peace — that has momentum.

I thought about this for a few minutes, and wondered, “how can one person make a positive difference in the world?  How should people of good conscience respond to this trend?  Where do we begin?

This line of thought then led me to reflect on the words of a hymn that I was privileged to sing during yesterday’s church services.  The text was taken from Psalm 72, and says:

For he will deliver the needy when he cries for help; the afflicted also, and him who has no helper.  He will have compassion on the poor and needy, and the lives of the needy he will save.  He will rescue their life from oppression and violence; and their blood will be precious in his sight . . .

The Psalm reminded me of the current wars in the Middle East and SW Asia, the violence being inflicted on rural populations in Mexico and Central America, and the endless cycle of civil war and strife in Sub-Saharan Africa, and the way in which the developed world responds.  How different are the ideas in the Psalm from the normal messages that we hear from world leaders, political candidates, corporate CEOs, pundits, analysts, and celebrities.  Think about it.  What role do values play in the decisions that are made on the world stage, or the messages that are continually conveyed to the public?  What role should compassion play in our efforts to achieve some semblance of world peace?  Is it OK to compromise human rights if compromise leads to greater stability – even if that stability is built on the back of oppression?  Should the plight of war refugees be a central issue of world concern?   Or is it acceptable to dismiss the refugees’ misfortune as a sad but inevitable, by-product of war –”collateral damage”? 

As we begin the New Year, and before we get caught up in the detail of specific crises, I want to argue for a reset in our thinking.  Values matter.  They reflect who we are – as individuals and as a society.  They aren’t just idle rhetoric.  Wars are fought over ideals and ideas.  Great societies and rich cultures are formed around them.   Human life matters, regardless of caste, religion, ethnicity.   I made a resolution that this year, in 2016, I will speak out against injustice, prejudice, inhumanity, bigotry, and hardheartedness, wherever I see it.  I will not stay politely and conveniently silent. 

I invite you to join me in this.  Instead of making decisions and taking positions, and THEN trying to justify them with what we know is fundamentally right and fundamentally wrong, let’s start with our values, and move forward from there.    Happy New Year, with peace on earth and goodwill toward all.

Turmoil v. Freedom of Expression: Community Policing into the Fray

Turmoil v. Freedom of Expression:  Community Policing into the Fray -- Watching the spiraling violence that surrounded the protests in Ferguson, Missouri this week, I was reminded of a discussion that I had with a friend of mine from Freedom House (http://freedomhouse.org/  Look them up -- they do great work!) about the importance of freedom of assembly as a fundamental right.  We were talking about Burma (aka “Myanmar”) which frequently uses its Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law as a way to arrest and imprison political and human rights activists.  The Burmese Parliament amended the law in June, but the changes have been criticized as cosmetic, and Burmese police continue to arrest those who are protesting against government actions.  As my friend and I explored development options (how do you change a culture of repression and control?), we realized that we had a growing list of countries that have been unable to strike a balance between freedom of expression and the need to maintain public order and safety.  It further reminded me of the discussions that my French Gendarmerie Deputy and I used to have in Afghanistan about the balance between policing as a security function for the government, and policing as a tool to ensure that individual rights are protected and dissenting voices are heard.

With this in mind, I watched the escalating violence in Ferguson and its increasingly militarized policing response over the past four days.  Until last night, it appeared as though nothing short of calling out the National Guard was going to quell the unrest.  And then, into the fray, stepped Missouri State Police Captain Ronald Johnson, the highway patrol official appointed by the governor to take control.  Captain Johnson ordered troopers to remove their tear-gas masks, and in the early evening he accompanied several groups of protesters through the streets, clasping hands, listening to stories and marching alongside them.  It worked.  The situation deescalated, and news this morning showed residents and protesters hugging Captain Johnson, and applauding his community policing-centric approach.   

Not all protesters have peaceful intent, of course, and there are always bad actors who will use public assembly as an excuse to incite violence and other criminal activity.  Crowds frequently get out of hand  (Recall the pro-Palestinian protests in France recently, which led to attacks on Paris Synagogues and Jews.) and when I was in Afghanistan, military commanders frequently opined that community policing techniques were irrelevant given the level of violence and instability.  But community-centric approaches do work.  They remind the public that the police are a part of the fabric of the community and not merely the face of the government.  They validate individual concerns, and the importance of individual rights.  They allow voices to be heard and frustrations to be aired. 

There are important discussions ahead about the increasing militarization of police in America, and the ability of police to demilitarize in unstable or repressive regimes abroad.  But what events in Ferguson illustrate is that it’s not an either/or proposition.  Community policing is as relevant in high tension and conflict as it is in peace.  And regardless of context, it can and does work.

Kidnapping in Nigeria and #bringbackourgirls – Are we missing the point? (Part 3)

Kidnapping in Nigeria and #bringbackourgirls – Are we missing the point? (Part 3):  

Now more than a month after the kidnapping, the crisis continues and so does the debate over the Nigerian response. Having conducted a “security summit” this weekend, western powers, Nigeria, and its neighbors are coordinating an intelligence-led, military response, and appear to be on the verge of declaring Boko Haram as an international terrorist organization. The Nigerian President has declared that the entire incident was an "al Qaeda-led operation.”

Is all this cooperation and attention a bad thing? No . . . unless it continues to divert attention from the underlying problem that empowers groups like Boko Haram – governance, or in this case, the lack thereof and Nigerian inability to enforce the rule of law.

The fact is that regardless how good the military is, when a country suffers from unabated crime, corruption, inequality, and governmental ineptitude, just to name a few of Nigeria’s shortcomings, then escalating insecurity will persist. This is not a problem with a military solution. Nigeria has credible military forces that are reasonably well trained and equipped (for the region) with a decent reputation as peacekeepers – outside of Nigeria. Within their own country, however, both the army and the police are routinely accused of major human rights violations; they are poorly and corruptly managed; and they are unresponsive to the security needs of the population. In sum, they are inadequately governed. No wonder they can’t mount a credible response.

But governance, to include security sector governance, can be improved if there is political will and a focused, comprehensive approach backed by internal and external oversight and robust public engagement. This kind of approach is difficult, complex, and long term, so unfortunately, it is not the direction in which things are going. Instead, the dialogue is defaulting to what we know and what we’re comfortable with –declaring war on Boko Haram and formulating a rapid military train, advise, and assist response. It won’t address the governance gap in the north; it won’t address the government’s disconnection with its own people; it won’t strengthen the Nigerians’ ability to criminalize the insurgency and enforce the law; and it doesn’t improve governance and accountability of Nigerian security forces. But it generates a lot of action, and that’s apparently going to have to be enough.

Kidnapping in Nigeria and #bringbackourgirls – Are we missing the point? (Part 1)

Kidnapping in Nigeria and #bringbackourgirls – Are we missing the point? (Part 1):  Several years ago, I met a Nigerian woman human rights activist.  We were both participating in an effort by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to codify best practices for Security Sector Reform, and I remember her not because she was so personable or experienced, because she was neither.   What she was, was angry.  She was angry with us – so-called Western do-gooders who, in her mind, presumed to know how to provide effective, targeted security and justice assistance in her country, but time and again, skated past the hard issues and left things worse than we found them, especially for women. 

The kidnapping of almost 300 girls by Boko Haram (aka “western education is a sin”) in Nigeria’s unstable north, has garnered world attention as well it should.  But even as we mobilize international pressure on the Nigerian government to find them, we need to ask how and why this happened in the first place and why the Nigerian response was so anemic and ineffective. 

In particular, if I look at the situation from a security sector reform (or “SSR”) perspective, what does it say about U.S. foreign assistance in Nigeria, and particularly security assistance?  Have we been putting the emphasis on the right things?  If I were doing an SSR assessment of Nigeria, there are a few issues that need to be looked at very hard.  And if I were a betting woman, I’d wager they are not the things that underpin current U.S. SSR-related activities.  So over the next few days, I want to think about some of these issues.  The girls are important.  But let’s not miss the larger point.  So are the ones who’ve been kidnapped before them, and so are the ones who may be in the future.  Stay with me for Part 2.