Police reform and policy transfer in Lebanon: Translations, convergences and competitions in a divided state

This article addresses aspects of police reform in Lebanon after the withdrawal of the Syrian troops in 2005. It shows how the police reform and in particular the transfer of community policing have prompted the actors involved to compete with one another at different levels. International donors competed for the adoption of their respective models of community policing and Lebanese police officers have competed in implementing the reforms. Raising the academic debate around policy transfer studies and the transfer of policing models, it establishes a link between translation of models and competition: indeed, different police officers have aligned themselves with different models of policing advocated by the international donors, some defending a hard policing, and others a disarmed police. These translation should not prevent the existence of a shared perception of community policing as an efficient tool to counter violent extremism.