Armed Violence, Community Security and Social Cohesion

Armed violence is a principle source of threat in countries and regions affected by fragility, conflict or high levels of criminal violence. Armed violence is a global challenge. It threatens national security and jeopardizes development, and rarely respects national borders. Armed violence is not new, but its threat to global security is propelled by global factors including transnational organized crime, access to illicit markets, demographic shifts and urbanization. Armed violence can be highly local, and concentrated in sub-national regions, and in cities and slums; it often spills over borders, and can develop broader linkages to ideology (like radical Islam). The SecDev Group delivered the OECD DAC guidance on armed violence reduction and prevention. we are currently developing an assessment toolkit and guidance for engagement for practitioners working on Community Security and Social Cohesion for the United Nations development program, Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery.

Cyberpower and Network Effects

The global information environment is changing and shaping the ways that wars and political conflicts are fought and resolved. The Secdev Group designs tools, methods and measures that make possible in-depth studies and assessments of global and specific tendencies and trends in the cyberdomain. We are core members of two leading research projects the OpenNet Initiative and Information Warfare Monitor, and are partnered with leading academic institutions active in this area, including the University of Toronto (Citizen Lab), Harvard university (Berkman Center) and Cambridge University (Security Lab). We also build solutions that enable research and reach into denied environments and are the strategic solution provider to Psiphon, a leading vendor of circumvention and content delivery technologies.

SecDev.cyber, a division of the Secdev Group, provides a full range of analytical, research and operational capabilities for the defense, security, intelligence, and law enforcement communities. We are partnered with Palantir Technologies delivering state-of-the-art intelligence infrastructure, and are the exclusive agent for the Cloakroom covert cyber investigation suite. For more information about Secdev.Cyber, please visit our sister website at: cyber.secdev.ca.

The SecDev Group also convenes specialist workshops on issues cyberterrorism, militant actors and the Internet and cyberpower and have partnered with the Centre for Strategic Leadership, US Army War College, NATO and the Russian National Security Council.

Engaging Armed Non-State Actors.

Engagement with armed non-states actors is critical to finding sustainable solutions. Our current portfolio includes an ongoing study for the Dutch Foreign Ministry (Clingendael Institute) that engaged religious actors in Palestine and Lebanon assessing their potential as brokers for resolving political conflicts. We are also active in Colombia working with paramilitary groups on approaches to alternative justice and DDR.

Security, Governance and Conflict.

The Secdev Group has proven expertise in designing and implementing programming in the areas of peacebuilding, security and development. Our principals and associates possess extensive operational experience in some of the world's toughest environments, and the toughest problems. our areas of expertise include: conflict and peace building assessments, public sector reform, complex programming responding to state fragility and the growing problem of “ungoverned spaces,” identity-based conflict and extremism, social and gender analysis, the global market in small arms and light weapons, gang and urban-based violence, and related areas such as security sector reform (SSR), disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) and counter-and-anti-terrorism.

Environmental Security, Climate Change and Water Conflict.

Links between the environment and political conflict remain poorly understood. Whether diminishing natural resources will lead to a wave of ‘environmental refugees’ or encourage international cooperation, most states are responding poorly to the new challenges they face. We have examined and conceptualised the power structures that prevent the resolution of transboundary water conflict on the Nile, Tigris, Ganges and other rivers. We are advising the Palestinian and UK governments on negotiations strategies based on the principles of international water law. Working with universities in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel and Palestine, we are studying the vulnerability of communities to socio-political and climate change in the Jordan River basin. Integrating the findings of our environment and political conflict research into policy directly relevant to all states involved is a complex intellectual and policy challenge we are confronting actively.