Ex-Combatants and the Post-Conflict State Rethinking Political Violence series Series editor: Roger Mac Ginty, Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Manchester, UK This exciting series provides a space in which to interrogate and challenge much of the conventional wisdom on political violence. Books in the series are at the forefront of research, pushing forward new debate in the field of political violence without rehashing clichés about security, violence and ‘terrorism’. Authors from both the critical and orthodox perspectives use the book series to reappraise some of the fundamental questions facing societies on how to deal with and interpret organised violence. Many of the books in the series are comparative, draw on fieldwork, and use insights from a variety of methodologies. Titles include: Linda Åhäll and Laura J. Shepherd (editors) GENDER, AGENCY AND POLITICAL VIOLENCE Stephen Gibson, Simon Mollan (editors) REPRESENTATIONS OF PEACE AND CONFLICT Jaremey McMullin EX-COMBATANTS AND THE POST-CONFLICT STATE Challenges of Reintegration Rethinking Political Violence series Series Standing Order ISBN 978-0230-24376-7 You can receive future titles in this series as they are published by placing a standing order. Please contact your bookseller or, in case of difficulty, write to us at the address below with your name and address, the title of the series and the ISBN quoted above. Customer Services Department, Macmillan Distribution Ltd, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS, England Ex-Combatants and the Post-Conflict State Challenges of Reintegration Jaremey R. McMullin Lecturer, School of International Relations, University of St Andrews, UK Palgrave macmillan © Jaremey R. McMullin 2013 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2013 978-0-230-29099-0 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2013 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. 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For my parents This page intentionally left blank Contents List of Tables and Figure viii Acknowledgements ix List of Abbreviations xii Introduction: Reintegration into What? 1 1 Conceptualizing Reintegration Challenges 17 2 The Advent of the Ex-Combatant: A Critical History of 45 Reintegration 3 Namibia: Jobs for Some 78 4 Mozambique: Cash for All 116 5 Sierra Leone: Trained for Jobs that Weren’t There 157 6 Liberia: Reintegration 2.0? 197 Conclusion: ‘Like Everyone Else’ 233 Notes 251 Bibliography 292 Index 322 vii List of Tables and Figure Tables 2.1 Estimated Combatants as Percentage of Country 64 Population 2.2 Estimated Combatant Deaths as Share of Total Deaths 66 for Selected Conflicts 2.3 Comparison of Reintegration Benefits in Mozambique, 69 Sierra Leone, the US, and the UK 3.1 Job Placement Eligibility by Combatant Group in 103 Namibia 6.1 Number of Combatants Killed as Percentage of Number 205 of Combatants Disarmed 6.2 Number of Weapons Collected as Percentage of Number 205 of Combatants Disarmed C.1 Comparative Summary of Beneficiaries and Costs 234 C.2 Monetary Value of Reintegration Assistance 234 Figure 5.1 Power Point Slide, ‘Lessons from Sierra Leone: 175 Three Targeting Options’ viii Acknowledgements First, I would like to thank Roger Mac Ginty, Harriet Barker and every- one at Palgrave Macmillan for their advice and patience with this book, and Jennifer Welsh and Jane Boulden, who supervised the doc- toral thesis from which this book is adapted. The field research I conducted was generously supported by several grants. The Department of Politics and International Relations at Oxford helped to fund two separate trips to Africa, in part through its Cyril Foster and Related Funds. The Warden and Fellows of New College at Oxford supported my research by trusting me very early on in my doctoral career with a Junior Research Fellowship. The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Marshall Aid Commem- oration Commission funded my research while I was a Marshall Scholar at Oxford. At the Marshall Commission, Mary Denyer, Natasha Bevan, Catherine Reeve, and Lisa Rothenberg deserve special thanks. The United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations, Peacekeeping Best Practices Unit, funded and facilitated research in Liberia in 2007, and the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland funded research in Liberia in 2009 and New York City in 2011. The University of St Andrews funded several trips to New York and Washington, DC. I am indebted to each and every person who agreed to be inter- viewed for this book. I could not have written it without their insights and their willingness to share their time and experience with me. Locating and contacting interviewees was a task made easier by the kindness of several people over many years. Angela MacIntyre set up meetings at the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria. Everyone there was immensely helpful to the planning of my subsequent research in Namibia and Mozambique. Monica Koep of USAID in Windhoek performed bighearted detective work on my behalf to iden- tify the ministers involved with the various assistance programs for ex- combatants there. Anthea Zervos and Sophie Raseman of the National Vision for Sierra Leone met with me in New York and Freetown to share names and phone numbers. Debbie Palmer and Mark White of DFID helped me locate additional Sierra Leonean contacts. Salomão Mungoi and Jacinta Jorge of Propaz in Mozambique set up interviews with ex-combatants in Moamba and at AMODEG headquarters in ix x Acknowledgements Maputo, and Salomão was kind enough to act as both driver and trans- lator during most of these encounters. Most of all, I would like to thank Ana Leão for sitting down with me in Pretoria to share work and contacts in Mozambique that had taken her months to compile. Special thanks go to the UNDPKO’s OROLSI/DDR Section and UNMIL/RRR for their invaluable assistance in Liberia in 2007 and 2009. At the DDR Section in New York, Ayaka Suzuki has kindly included me in a few of the Section’s review missions, and Simon Yazgi and Christopher O’Donnell accompanied me on two missions (to Liberia and Burundi, respectively). Thanks also to Lotta Hagman, Elizabeth Kissam, Nikolai Rogosaroff, Sergiusz Sidorowicz, Carolina Gasiorowski, and Bruno Donat in New York. In Monrovia, special thanks to Andrea Tamagnini, Theresa Krafft, Doris Kleffner, Hanna Matti, and Sofia Warttmann for facilitating my two visits there. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank those who gener- ously provided accommodation whilst I was in the field: Neil and Ian Rankin and their family in Johannesburg, Rob and Karen Moffett in Windhoek, and Herb Treger in Maputo. In Washington: Rob Coppedge, John Colleran, Brett Bunkall, and Stefania Lucamante and Bill Erb. And in New York, for housesitting and couch-surfing gigs too numerous to count while I was collecting data and writing, very special thanks to Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky, Dan Kaufman, Gabriel Saffioti, Margaret Ryan and Steve Evangelista, Hilary Saccomano and Ryan Lawson, Amber Tamblyn and David Cross, Martin Barna, Patrick McGinnis, Julie Gallucci, Jon Barrett, and Jason Schechter. And to the friends farther afield who put me up while I was completing chapters: Jordon Nardino, Meredith Masters and Stephen David Coy, and Oleg and Heather Nodelman and their adorable girls, Bodhi and Savannah. Thanks also to Tyler Kunz for providing the soundtrack to my chapter writing. I am extremely grateful to all those who helped to acquaint me with the scenery and people of Namibia, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, and Liberia, especially Jennifer Lalley and Dave van Smeerdijk in Windhoek, and Nicole Goldin and Mark Rorich in Maputo. I would like to thank Ryan Piers Williams and Arthur Boutellis for fascinating and insightful conversations about veterans and DDR (Ryan for his insights into American vets and Arthur for his experience and knowledge about DDR in Africa). Both have influenced my thinking on the subject and acted as occasional sounding boards for ideas during coffees and meals in New York. Thanks also to Neta Crawford who sug- gested texts and frameworks that were extremely helpful in connecting Acknowledgements xi the world of DDR to veterans across different contexts. My thesis examiners, Michael Pugh and S. Neil MacFarlane, gave much appreci- ated early advice.