International and local policing in pace operations: Lessons learned and the way forward to integrated approaches

Policing in peace operations takes place in increasingly complex environments. Most operations today are deployed into so called "failed states" which can no longer fulfill core functions such as the provision of security and public order under the rule of law. The challenge of rebuilding failed states can only be met through the integration of the activities of various actors, including the police, into one overarching strategy. The work of police components must firmly be place into the broader context of reforming the security sector and the-establishing the rule of law. As several participants stressed the example of Afghanistan shows the risk involved if single initiatives do not follow a joint strategy: As part of the Bonn Agreement, individual nations were assigned lead-nation status for certain functional areas of reform without the benefit of an overarching structure. A coordinated, multilateral framework for security sector reform and improved governance was lacking. The four-legged stool of security sector reform - justice, menal, military and police - wobbled from the uneven level of commitment and development of each respective sector. Much more effort and dialogue between the key actors involved in peace operations are therefore needed to establish and operationalize joint strategies! Division of Labor Needs Improvement: . A sufficiently clear understanding of the division of labor between police and military components is still missing. At the same time overlap of responsibilities, both on the level of day-to-day cooperation in the field and on the political level, will continue to be inevitable du to the unpredictable and often dangerous environment in to which peace operations are deployed: Too often one hears the phrase "that's not a job for the military', particularly in national capitals where there is an understandable but in this case misguided resistance to having soldiers involved in law enforcement. In practice in post-conflict societies, the fledgling local