Post-war Recovery: Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration

DDR is an essential compnent of international peacebuilding schemes. This title is the first appraisal of its effectiveness in a variety of international contexts. It draws out lessons to be learned.In countries affected by war, the cessation of hostilities inevitably produces a large number of demobilised combatants, most of them lacking any basic means of support or livelihood. The failure to respond to the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) of such former combatants can cause high levels of insecurity, at worst a resumption of armed conflict. Accordingly DDR is now a regular component of post-conflict reconstruction efforts around the world. Postwar Recovery provides a unique study of DDR in action. Drawing upon the experience of four major war-torn societies - Afghanistan, Kosovo, El Salvador and Sierra Leone - the author provides the first comparative analysis of DDR, exploring the planning, implementation and effectiveness of DDR in each country. In a final chapter, the author draws out the lessons to be learned.

Alpaslan Ozerdem is a member of the Post-war Reconstruction and Development Unit (PRDU) at the University of York, UK. His extensive experience includes fieldwork in Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, El Salvador, Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka and Turkey. He is the author (with Tim Jacoby) of 'Disaster Management and Civil Society: Earthquake Relief in Japan, Turkey and India' (I.B. Tauris, 2006).