Multiethnic Police Reform in Southern Serbia : Did the Multiethnic Police Contribute to Peace in the Presevo Valley?

Abstract

This thesis examines the multiethnic police reforms implemented in southern Serbia in the aftermath of the conflict in 2000 and 2001. It discusses whether the introduction of a multiethnic police force contributed to post-conflict peace and stability in the Presevo Valley. Comparing empirical findings based on existing sources, it analyzes the use of multiethnic police reform as a peacebuilding strategy. The thesis argues that the promise of multiethnic police reform initially contributed to the peace settlement ending major hostilities. However, inadequate training and confidence building measures resulted in a lack of integration with the existing local security apparatus. This disabled the multiethnic police to become the main security provider in the region. Thus, the multiethnic police force contributed less to long-term peace and stability. The thesis finds that the challenges characterizing the effort to reform police structures in southern Serbia are common to many aspects of post-conflict peacebuilding.