Suchergebnisse

This article explores the outcomes of the peace initiatives of two Colombian borderland communities: Samaniego and Las Mercedes. Both attempted to persuade armed actors to abide by certain rules in their territories, yet the community of Samaniego was more effective than that of Las Mercedes. We use data from fieldwork, including interviews, observation and documents, and secondary literature, to compare the two initiatives. We argue that, despite similar regional circumstances, including the presence of multiple armed actors and the strategic importance of both territories for drug cultivation and trafficking, the outcomes differed for three reasons: first, the distinct characteristics of the civil resistance movements, including the levels of participation, cohesion and the type of leadership; second, the differing nature of the relationship of each community with armed actors; third, the role of external actors. Further, we found that national peace processes can catalyse local peace efforts.

Since the 2016 Havana Peace Accord (HPA), for many Colombians security has hardly improved. This article argues that this is largely due to socially rooted marginalisation that constrains citizen participation and contributes to entrenched insecurity in the country, especially its border regions. We show how post‐HPA community‐level responses to insecurity, including constructive engagement with the state, can enhance security and kick‐start processes of de‐marginalisation. Drawing on original data from interviews in Cesar Department and a series of cross‐stakeholder fora in 2019, we demonstrate the utility of the citizen security lens when examining processes of marginalisation, de‐marginalisation, and their impact on perceptions of (in)security of marginalised communities.

The war on drugs has failed, but consensus in the international drug policy debate on the way forward is missing. Challenging conventional thinking in defence and security sectors, this book constitutes a comprehensive and systematic effort to theoretically, conceptually, and empirically investigate the impacts of the war on drugs.