Research

Cranfield University maintains an active research environment through a number of small and large research programmes, as well as the vibrant research activity of the wider Department of Defence Management and Security Analysis. Such activity directly supports Cranfield’s proven track record of teaching excellence in security and defence management.

The objectives of the SSRonline research programme include:

advancing the intellectual frontiers of the SSR debate
providing a sound empirical basis for all research activity
producing useful output for both academic and wider practitioner and policy circles
where appropriate, involving regional and sub-regional networks to support research activities
producing current and relevant case study analyses to support post-graduate education and security management training

Ongoing research within the team includes the following projects:

The Centrality of National Security Frameworks in Informing Security-Development Programmes
During a time when programmes supporting global security and development agenda are increasing in scope and number, there is a critical need for more strategic clarity in how these programmes are managed. This research programme takes a close look at present day joined-up government processes and evaluates the linkages between overarching joined-up strategies and national security frameworks. In taking a comparative approach, it draws on the cases of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, and evaluates the extent to which National Security Frameworks (if any) strategically inform security-development programmes areas. The analysis covers the following points:

The national processes supporting the development of national security strategies;
Ways in which broader implications are derived for programme level requirements;
The degree to which changes in the strategic environment impact on the dynamic nature of the strategic planning process; and
The degree to which mechanisms are in place to evaluate the impact of the programmes at the strategic level.

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Justice Reform in Post-conflict Environments
This project examines approaches which have been used to address justice sector reform over the past 20 years. The work analyses how justice sector reform is implemented in post conflict contexts as part of a security sector reform programme and contrasts it with implementation requirements for justice reform in more conventional contexts. The project involves a critical examination of government/donor policy supporting justice sector reform and a range of case studies including both conventional and post conflict contexts, to review actual approaches and methodologies applied. The outputs, outcomes and impacts of these efforts will be studied in efforts to generate recommendations for policymakers and practitioners tasked with undertaking justice reform in post-conflict states - particularly as it supports more holistic approaches to security sector reform.

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A Strategic Culture supporting Defence Reform: The Case of Indonesia
This piece of research analyses the achievement of military reform in Indonesia from 1998-2004. Its studies the reform of strategic policies on military affairs weighed against the principles of international norms in managing the armed forces in a democratic based society. The internalisation of international norms on the democratic control of the armed forces is assessed to map the extent of achievement of military reform in Indonesia. This study focuses on the strategic policy level and places particular emphasise on issues of governance. The study also argues that pressure for defence reform in Indonesia has been determined by domestic political struggles that interlinks with historical trajectories and the political, economic, social, and legal dynamics of the nation.

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Demilitarization of Society and Public Insecurity: The Case and South Africa and Nigeria
This project examines demilitarization processes in Africa and ways in which these processes impact on public insecurity. The cases of Nigeria and South Africa, and specific regions in both cases, are examined. The study focuses on more general ideas regarding civil-military relations and communal conflict in Africa and, within these broader areas, specific areas of interest including the privatisation of violence, informal security actors, and civil militarism. Emerging from the study are implications for conflict resolution in post-authoritarian states, the governance of non-state security forces in crisis-prone societies, and alternative approaches to demilitarization strategies.

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'Military Aid' As A Subset of 'Aid': Measuring the Impact of US Aid Policy in Columbia against progress on the national security reform agenda
This project analyses the degree to which security sector reform in Colombia has been a priority for both the Colombian government and the international donor community within the last 4 years (President Uribe’s first administration). The research considers the effects of the high profile, high cost US investment to Colombia’s security sector in terms of military aid and measures the extent to which the conditions of such aid packages complement the national security reform agenda. In evaluating the different approaches taken by both multilateral and bilateral donors, the study will also diagnose to what extent a meaningful framework exists to encourage transformation of the security sector as Colombia makes progress to end its 40-year conflict.

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Prospects for SSR in the Middle East: NATO and the Gulf
This research project explores the current and future role of NATO in enacting Security Sector Reform (SSR) in the Middle East. SSR here is broadly defined to include the possibility of establishing collective security systems in the Gulf. The project is grounded in recent scholarship on military reform, democratization and collective security. It aims to fill the gap between theoretical literature elaborated by authors who focused on other regions of the world and the reality of SSR experiments in the Gulf and in the Broader Middle East. Furthermore, from a policy point of view, it explores the possibility of NATO playing a role in any of these field of SSR in the Gulf and the Broader Middle East.

The research questions are: Can NATO Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI) contribute significantly to security in the Gulf? Is it likely to spur SSR in GCC states? Are the means devoted to the initiative, both financial and political, commensurate to the ends? The method employed in this research project focuses extensively on structured interviews and focus groups with government and civic leaders as well as military officials. This will supplement the analysis of ICI partners’ internal working documents and reports that are usually drafted in Arabic, as well as an extensive SSR literature review.

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Measuring Effects-based Operations: Developing Impact-based metrics to Evaluate Security Engagements
This new project is based on the findings of an 18-month research study funded by the Department for International Development (DFID), which examined the extent to which progress has been made in the development of performance-based metrics to measure the effects of development and crisis response programmes. Phase II of this project takes these initial research findings and responds to the gap analysis identified in Phase I. In doing so, it develops more holistic and comprehensive ‘tools’ for measuring the impact of multi-sectoral engagements based on modified and contextualized methodologies which have their roots in conventional management models. Examples include the Balanced Scorecard and the Lewin Change Management Model. The study recognizes the need for different metrics to evaluate achievements at the strategic, operational and project levels of management.

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'Joined-up Intelligence': Security Sector Reforms in the Colombian Government
This study examines current approaches supporting intelligence management (consolidation and analysis) used by the Colombian government. It will assess ways in which key national security policy issues rely on intelligence or national security policy requiring effective intelligence support. The study will evaluate the extent to which the current national security policy agenda requiring "joined up" information management, is supported by the requisite shared approaches

Finally the research develop recommendations for reforms to the Colombian Government intelligence system which would enhance its ability to defend and protect its national security interests - at home and abroad.

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