Study on the status of information sharing among law enforcement agencies

: a case study of Lebanon

Abstract

The central focus of this study is information sharing among security agencies in the context of a fragile state emerging from conflict. Knowing that current fragile states cause risks to the world’s security, this study uses Lebanon, a strategic fragile country of the Middle East, as a case study. Therefore, the aim of this study is to critically examine law enforcement agencies’ information sharing practices in a post-conflict context so as to better understand how these practices may contribute to the development of civil society. This research focuses on how information sharing among security agencies can be an indicator of the ‘health’ of a country emerging from conflict. For this purpose, the researcher conducted documentary research in order to develop a framework for understanding the development of security agencies in Lebanon. Additionally, semi-structured interviews were conducted with key role holders in the security sector of Lebanon. The findings obtained by the researcher were analysed using a general inductive analysis approach, and the research concluded that there is (1) a link between information sharing among security agencies and the ‘health’ of a country emerging from conflict. This link is dependent on the nature of the security threat, and whether or not it is related to the secterian Lebanese conflict. (2) The research also concluded that information sharing should be considered a new indicator group to be added to the already existing indicators of the Fragile State Index developed by the Fund for Peace (FFP) to rank countries according to their fragility score. This case study suggests that the findings and conclusions that were reached in this research can be potentially transferable to other developing societies that have emerged from a sectarian conflict. It puts forward suggestions and recommendations for future research focusing on the study of information sharing within the security sector and other public sectors, as well as in fragile countries other than Lebanon existing at various stages of conflict, post-conflict, and stable peace.

Date of Award	Jul 2021
Original language	English
Supervisor	Sarah Charman (Supervisor), Brian John Chappell (Supervisor), Stephen Peter Savage (Supervisor) & Leah Fox (Supervisor)