ABSTRACT
Schnabel’s chapter sums up how security sector reform (SSR) is vital for conflict prevention and is key for successful regional cooperation, business, and development. He maintains that conflict prevention is crucially important for creating stable and safe environments for people and states, and for development and business, and outlines two aspects of this. First, SSR helps security institutions, as well as those institutions mandating and overseeing their work, to be in the best possible position to provide effective, efficient, and accountable security in order to prevent the escalation of insecurity and violence. Second, in cases where security institutions are among the very sources of insecurity, they need to be reformed to prevent – and not cause – insecurity. Schnabel contends that SSR is vital for conflict prevention, and both are vital for stability. Matching Switzerland’s experience in providing SSR support with China’s interest in preventing violent conflict and advancing peace through development as part of BRI would be a win–win situation for everyone involved: Switzerland would be able to lend non-partisan support to meaningful, context-specific SSR initiatives throughout BRI projects; China would promote and support these activities in order to create a stable environment for development and investment.
