Essay for National Peace Essay Contest

The fall of the Soviet Union ushered in the era democracy. The world has seen, since then, many countries overthrow their old governmental structures in favor of democracy. However, for some countries this is only a dream, because sustainable peace requires not just a reform of government but a reform of all agencies in any way connected to the government. One major area that must be reformed in order for a democracy to thrive is the Security Sector. The best way to affect sustainable peace through security sector reform is to allow the people of a country to reform their security sector with aid from or based on a more experienced democratic power this can be seen through two cases: the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Romania.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is an example of a political transference to a democracy. However, this transference was not necessarily peaceful. Congo experienced decades of politics bolstered by Marxist-Leninist rhetoric. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Congolese moderated their economic and political views until in 1992 the Congo completed the transition to a multi-party democracy. However, the Congolese democracy faced several trials in the years 1993, 1994 and 1997. In November 1992, the President dissolved the National Assembly and called for new elections in May 1993. Unfortunately, the elections in May were disputed. This dispute touched of a violent civil unrest in June and again in November. In February 1994 the risk of large-scale insurrection subsided by the acceptance of the decisions of the international board of arbiters about the election. In 1997, as the presidential election approached tensions arose between the Lissouba and Sassou Nguesso camps. In May, a visit b...

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...ve experienced the sometimes-difficult transition to a democracy; others are currently in that transition. For some countries this transition will take a matter of months, for others is can take years. Sustainable peace requires a reform of all agencies in any way connected to the government. One of the major areas is the Security Sector. The best way to affect sustainable peace through security sector reform is to allow the people to reform their own security sector. The key elements necessary for a successful reform of the security sector are a centralized democratic government willing to reform, the people’s support for a reform, strong leaders to push this reform through, the willingness to compromise, a striving for peaceful resolutions, and above all a strong want of Democracy. These elements result in the bringing the joys of freedom to the people. (1,500)