International Assistance to Police Reform

This book compares police reform operations in Kosovo and Afghanistan, addressing the internal machinery that makes peace operations work—or not. Recognizing that the chances for effective peacebuilding vary widely across contexts, this book investigates the impact of one of the few variables that peacebuilders do control: the management and design of peace operations.

Building on field research and over one hundred expert interviews, International assistance to police reform: Managing Peacebuilding systematically compares such operations in two different contexts—Kosovo and Afghanistan—by focusing specifically on international assistance for local police reform since 1999.

Four comprehensive case studies examine operations in Kosovo and Afghanistan before and after the European Union took over police reform responsibilities: in Kosovo from  the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and in Afghanistan from the German government. Speaking to scholars and practitioners in domestic and international organizations, the book drills in the complex relation between headquarter diplomats and field level conflict experts. Its findings combine to a set of recommendations for policy-makers to better align their operations to the contentious politics of conflict management and peacebuilding. 

“Institutional design matters for peacebuilding. This meticulously researched study provides new evidence to support this important finding and demonstrates the added value of analyzing peace operations from a public administration perspective.” (Richard Caplan, Professor of International Relations, Oxford University)

“Since the end of the Cold War and in the wake of increasing regional instability, tremendous political efforts and billions of public funds are invested into international peace operations. We do know that peacebuilding pays off. We also know, however, that the level of performance and success varies tremendously. Steffen Eckhard addresses what is a blind spot, so far, in the relevant research by addressing the institutional design and intra-organizational life of international peace operations. Focusing on the fundamental segment of rule of law institutions in Afghanistan and Kosovo, policing in particular, Eckhard demonstrates that very much depends on the political skills of ground-level officials as well as of the managerial realism of politicians. This pioneering book is thus a must-read for anybody, scholars and practitioners alike, interested in how to make international peacebuilding more effective and sustainable.” (Wolfgang Seibel, Professor of Politics and Public Administration, University of Konstanz)

Steffen Eckhard is senior researcher at the University of Munich and a non-resident research fellow at the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) in Berlin. His research focuses on the conflicts and reconciliation of different rationales in politics and administration—both in domestic and international public organizations—with an emphasis on global peace and security governance.