Security as a selective project

Abstract

Security is a selective project that is typically understood, produced and expressed in terms of differentiation and exclusion; it is rarely for all. This is notably so in post-conflict cities such as Baghdad and Basra, where the principal political weapons are coercion and intimidation, territoriality is a significant facet of security's physical dimension and exclusionary tendencies, and security's referent object is an ethnic or sectarian identity or group. Friction exists between the multiple perspectives and interests concerned, and concessions and trade-offs are essential. Even so, it is probably not possible to develop city-wide security, or, indeed, a comprehensive understanding that integrates state, sub-state (that is, factional) and individual security. Trends in Iraqi policing support this interpretation. International efforts to use a reformed public police to rebalance the provision of security more equitably are accordingly unrealistic.