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African Security Dialogue and Research (ASDR) is an independent, non-governmental institute based in Accra, Ghana, specializing in issues of security and their relationship with democratic consolidation.
The core aims of the ASDR are to: Foster dialogue and consensus with regard to issues of conflict and security in Africa, focusing in particular on the role and governance of security forces (military, intelligence, and police) in the emerging democracies on the continent; Undertake research, analysis, monitoring, and advocacy on issues relating to civil-military relations and national and regional security in Africa; Encourage greater transparency and accountability in the way that national security and defence policies are formulated and implemented; Enhance oversight capabilities of national legislatures and elected representatives by promoting collaboration with defence experts and researchers; Strengthen the capabilities and resources of civil society and NGOs in the analysis and discussion of defence and security sector issues; Improve overall availability of defence-and security-related information in the public domain, both by encouraging new research and by bringing together the scattered studies and data pertaining to African militaries and security organisations and policies.
The ASDR seeks to engage these issues on a regional basis. While the ASDR aims to collaborate with organisations that share similar concerns, what distinguishes it in the region is the way that it seeks to combine, on the one hand, advocacy and dialogue - bringing together legislators, scholars, defence and security officials, and civil society activists in a serious, informed, and sustained exchange on defence and security issues - and, on the other, commitment to research and analysis, as a means of expanding the (presently very limited) data base on the security sector available to African civilian decision-makers and non-specialists. In this endeavor ASDR seek to join expertise and broad participation as the basis for engagement. Associates of the ASDR are drawn from among scholars and professional researchers, journalists, NGOs, MIP officers (active and retired), and former Government officials.
Eboe Hutchful, the Executive Director of ASDR, is a Ghanaian Professor in Political Science and African Studies. He has taught at Wayne State University (Michigan), the University of Toronto (Canada), the University of Port Harcourt (Nigeria), and the University of Ghana. He is a long-time researcher on militarism and civil-military relations and has published extensively on these and other themes. His recent works include The Military and Militarism in Africa, (co-edited with Professor Abdoulaye Bathily of the University of Cheikh Anta Diop), and a forthcoming volume titled Taming the Praetorians: Restoring Civil Control of the Military in Democratic Transitions in Africa. He is a member of the Working Committee on Demilitarisation in Africa, established by the African Leadership Forum, the UNDP, and the Arias Foundation at Arusha in July 1998.
ASDR is also served by an Advisory Council.
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