Berthold Beitz Lecture

Pockets of Restraint in Violent Security Forces

In democracies and autocracies across the world, security forces respond to protests in varying ways—some obey repressive orders, some are amenable to democratic reforms, some show restraint, and some use excessive force. Why is this? Whereas most contemporary studies focus on these differences within individual countries, Sabrina Karim looks more globally at the underlying causes for such differentiation across nations by considering sociological categories such as sex, military rank, social networks, leadership experience, gender equality, training, UN peacekeeping experience, exposure to combat, and participation in different units. In so doing, Karim outlines a broader understanding of when and why resistance to following orders occurs and illuminates its causes at the individual, unit, and institutional level.

This fellowship is made possible through philanthropic support from the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation.