Securing Peace? Regime Types and Security Sector Reform in the Patani (Thailand) and Bangsamoro (the Philippines) Peace Processes, 2011–2016

Abstract

This article examines how regime types shape security sector reforms, that are integral to the peace processes in Thailand’s Patani and the Philippines’ Mindanao. Lessons drawn from Thailand and the Philippines, illuminate the interplay between regime types and peace processes and reveal that: (1) democratic regimes tend to address aspects of security sector reform; (2) military regimes may cherry-pick a security agenda for tactical reasons, while turning peace talks into ‘ceremonial structures’; (3) weak democratic institutions are not necessarily amenable to security sector reform, but democratic spaces can empower civil society to propel security actors to embrace some degree of reform.