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Insecurity and the reintegration of former armed non-state actors in Colombia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 July 2021

James Meernik Open the ORCID record for James Meernik [Opens in a new window] ,
Juan Gaviria Henao  and
Laura Baron-Mendoza
James Meernik*
Affiliation:
University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA
Juan Gaviria Henao
Affiliation:
Aulas de Paz, Medellin, Colombia
Laura Baron-Mendoza
Affiliation:
Faculty of Law, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
*
*E-mail: james.meernik@unt.edu
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Abstract

In this paper, we focus on the completion of a government reintegration program in Colombia for former non-state armed actors, such as rebel forces and militias, in the post-conflict period. As the members of these groups lay down their arms and return to a peaceful existence, the effectiveness of their transition to ‘normal’ lives can be critical in preventing the re-emergence of conflict and violence. Former combatants face numerous challenges and hardships such as criminal violence, political violence, economic hardship that, if not properly addressed, may increase the likelihood that some of them become involved in criminal work, political violence, or other activities that undermine peace. We develop a theory of the impact of violence and insecurity challenges facing former, non-state armed actors (henceforth, ANSAs). We suggest that the numerous challenges involved in leading a normal life under conditions of abnormal security will likely make successful completion of government reintegration programs more difficult for ANSAs. We also consider and account for the powerful effects of gender and family in the successful completion of a reintegration program. We test our theoretical model on the successful completion of a government reintegration program in Colombia, and test our hypotheses on a large database of ANSAs. We find support for our hypotheses, as well as social factors that greatly influenced the likelihood of successful completion of the Colombian government’s reintegration program.

Keywords

civil warreintegrationformer combatantsLatin Americaviolence
Type
Research Article
Information
European Political Science Review , Volume 13 , Issue 4 , November 2021 , pp. 528 - 546
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of European Consortium for Political Research

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