The Afghan Local Police: unpacking a hybrid security arrangement

AbstractOur article takes issue with some applications of ‘hybridity’ in contemporary peace studies. We want to correct the view of ‘hybridity’ as mere expressions of resistance by the local to the external interventionist blueprints. We make our case based on field research of a community defence programme developed by the US military to address weaknesses in the Afghan state. Our critical reconstruction of ‘hybridity’ to two provincial studies presses the need to encompass the co-construction of hybrid outcomes, the fluidity of the process and complexities in the local context that shape the choices of both local and international actors. We argue that negative local experiences with the Afghan Local Police can be attributed to elite capture and pragmatic adaptations to the logic of the battle field. We further suggest that even ‘prescribed’ hybridity can work when the context matches the assumptions and conditions outlined in the original blueprint. Our analysis highlights the dangers of simplifying th...