ABSTRACT
Chapter 5 examines a convergence of donor consensus around the issue of security sector reform, but a divergence of implementation. What accounts for this variance in implementation of aid and security approaches by donors? This chapter answers this question from the world society viewpoint elaborated throughout the book, using the same comparative, three-country case study of bilateral aid agencies in Canada, Sweden, and the United States. Analysing interviews with donor and civil society representatives from these countries, the chapter then identifies two common micro-level mechanisms and processes at work in mediating the influence of world society on the nation-state: the catalytic policy process and the process of asserting agency autonomy from national governments shape how specific donors have taken up security sector reform and mainstreaming a security and development approach in development assistance. Despite experiencing convergence because of the processes of globalization at work in each case, the divergence of implementation of security sector reform frameworks results from the interplay of these processes with donor agency structure and each country’s context.
