Title
The “latecomers” of Bougainville: The difficult completion of post-conflict disarmament processes
Authors
Year of publication
2024
Published in
Article type
scientific article
Publication language
english
Keywords
EN
- disarmament
- peace-building
- DDR processes
- conflict
- ex-combatant behaviour
Abstract
EN Post-conflict disarmament processes inherently grapple with definitional challenges regarding definitive endpoints and measures of completion. This paper examines the phenomenon of delayed disarmament through the case study of so-called “latecomers” in Bougainville—ex-combatants who voluntarily surrendered their weapons following the cessation of formal demobilisation, disarmament, and reintegration programming. This study proposes a behavioural model that conceptualises late comer decisionmaking dynamics pertaining to temporary small arms retention. Pivoting upon an iterated security dilemma framework, the model posits that contextual environmental stressors and temporal factors serve as key variables initially sustaining weapons possession in the absence of hostilities. However, this intermediate status carries risks of eventual escalation to renewed violence or protracted and arduous disarmament engagement. The latecomer case reveals the inherent fluidity and uncertainties surrounding delimitations of the disarmament process. Further interrogating ex-combatant dilemmas could strengthen post-conflict policy and practice. Fundamentally, this research demonstrates the enduring temporal ambiguities inherent to disarmament, highlighting the need for pluralistic understandings attentive to issues of indigeneity, humanity, and interpretive meaning central to sustainable peace-building.
Pages (from - to)
82 - 96
License type
CC BY (attribution alone)
Open Access Mode
open journal
Open Access Text Version
final published version
Release date
28.03.2024
Date of Open Access to the publication
at the time of publication
Ministry points / journal
70
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