New Civil-Military Occasional Papers – focus on Afghanistan

With the publication of the latest in the Centre’s Civil-Military Occasional Papers series, the Centre continues its contribution to the body of learning in the civil-military community. In particular, the three papers published this week look at the role of policing in a civil-military context as well as offering a snapshot of the current state of the counterinsurgency and its legal aspects in Afghanistan.

In Occasional Papers 3 and 4, Dr William Fish and Dr Beth Greener consider the complex issues surrounding international policing, including the growing convergence between the police and the military in the western developed states and the historical separation from military functions by outlining the key roles of police forces and analysing why policing was purposefully developed to differ from military structures and roles.

The authors consider the question of what constitutes legitimate forms of policing in different contexts. In understanding the genesis of current policing models and alternative possibilities for the relationship between police and military forces and by studying these issues, the authors hope to better understand the options for police and military roles in post-conflict settings.

In Occasional Paper 5, Dr Paul Muggleton and Associate Professor Bruce ‘Ossie’ Oswald provide a snapshot of certain legal aspects of the civilian-military counterinsurgency campaign being conducted in Afghanistan by coalition forces in partnership with Afghan national security forces, together with civilian representatives of bodies such as the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, contributing government and regional organisations, and non-government and international organisations

The snapshot, taken in May 2011, considers legal aspects as they relate to the Rule of Law Field Force – Afghanistan, the role of the Afghan Local Police and the ISAF detention program.

These Occasional Papers are therefore essential reading for anyone interested in international peacekeeping, the Afghanistan conflict or military-police relations in the post-conflict environment.