A new article by the Ploughshares-funded 3D Security Initiative [1], Quantum Blur [2], lays out what can be done to bring clarity to the relationship between civilian NGOs and military personnel in conflict regions. The article provides an agenda for civil-military relations to support conflict prevention and peacebuilding. Lisa Schirch [3], executive director, writes, “Every humanitarian or development project or transfer of resources can be done in a way that exacerbates political conflicts between groups or helps to ease the divisions and build consensus and stability between groups.” The article explains reasons for the “civil-military blur” and suggests ways to improve the civil-military balance.
Links
[1] http://www.3dsecurity.org/
[2] http://www.3dsecurity.org/sites/3dsecurity.org/files/Civil-Military%20Blur_Aug09.pdf
[3] http://ploughshares.org/expert/164