Published by Stability: International Journal of Security & Development

in partnership with The UK Government’s Stabilisation Unit

Deadline for Abstracts: 5 DECEMBER 2014

Background. Stabilisation and the broader linking of diplomacy, development assistance and security measures, while often associated with the international interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq, have grown increasingly common. Governments are promoting stabilisation in violence-affected locations both at home (e.g., Brazil and Mexico) as well as abroad (DR Congo, Somalia, Yemen, etc.). Meanwhile, the United Nations and other multilateral organisations have incorporated stabilisation into its peacekeeping and integrated missions in places such as Haiti and Mali. Even where the terms “stabilisation” or “stability” are not used, related approaches are increasingly being adopted as part of peacekeeping, counter-insurgency and “active protection” missions around the world. The open-access journal Stability and the UK Government’s Stabilisation Unit have partnered to examine these trends in a new series of articles.

Themes/Topics. Prospective authors are encouraged to propose any topic which relates to stabilisation as a concept and/or practice. While single-country case studies will be considered, the collection aims to feature foundational articles which address stabilisation and related issues more broadly. As the special collection’s title – the Future of Stabilisation – implies, we would particularly welcome pieces that discuss where stabilisation is heading within multilateral organisations, national/donor government institutions, the military and beyond. For instance, we are interested in pieces that address topics such as:

The UN and stabilisation: how (and where) the UN system approaches stabilisation around the world
What stabilisation is (and isn’t): differentiating stabilisation from related concepts
Stabilisation responses to hybrid approaches to conflict and destabilisation
Conceptual or empirical critiques of stabilisation
Regressive versus progressive stabilisation: stabilisation as progress versus domination
An analysis of bilateral approaches to stabilisation (e.g., US, UK, Netherlands, Denmark, Brazil, etc.)
The topics above are intended for demonstration purposes only. While we would welcome submissions that respond to these issues, we are open to a wide range of proposals – including those that take advantage of audio-visual elements or engaging info-graphics.

Timeline. Potential contributors will be informed whether their abstract has been successful by mid-December. Those authors who are ultimately invited to contribute will be asked to submit their piece for peer review between February and May 2015. Pieces in this collection will be released – following a rapid peer-review process – between April and September 2015. All articles will be widely disseminated among researchers, policy-makers and practitioners by Stability and the Stabilisation Unit.

How to Submit. Abstracts should be submitted to info@stabilityjournal.org by 5 DECEMBER 2014. Each submission should include the following in a one-page attachment: (1) a 250-to-400-word abstract that outlines your topic and methodological approach; and (2) the names, institutional affiliations and e-mail addresses of all intended authors. Please also indicate whether the research is already underway or whether it would begin once you receive a response to your abstract.