Panel 53: Ex-Combatants: A Post-Conflict Challenge?

Most post-conflict states face the challenge of reintegrating former combatants. Such reintegration is seen primarily through the prism of risk. Ex-combatants are variously seen as a security challenge; as a population needing special economic assistance; and as reminder of violence and potential irritant to social cohesion. This panel invites papers that assess the scope, validity, and solutions to this constellation of risks.

Solutions to the challenges posed by ex-combatants vary widely, depending upon the nature of the preceding war and the perceived risks in the post-conflict context. Where conflict was seen as primarily driven by greed and criminality, reintegration programs may emphasize “peace dividends” and reducing recidivism; in contrast, recovery from ideological violence may require political transformations such as the creation of new political parties.

Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) programs are important elements of contemporary peacebuilding. They are costly, time-intensive undertakings, in a sense they function as experiments, attempting to reorder relations within and between state and society, and they highlight the interaction and different perspectives of external and internal actors.

This panel explores the relationship between ex-combatants and the broader political community, with particular emphasis on the relationship between state institutions and policy instruments and the challenges of DDR. The challenge of ex-combatants is of significant magnitude in Africa, but these questions are also relevant in other contexts, and while this panel will focus on African cases, a comparative perspective beyond Africa should also be fruitful for theory development and setting new research agendas within this important field.