The Policing Gap in NATO Operations : Defining the complexity of Internal Security Architecture

This open access brief examines NATO’s Stability Policing doctrine through an interdisciplinary lens, bridging military doctrine with social science to enhance the understanding and planning of stabilization operations. By addressing the policing gap―the absence of local law enforcement capacity to maintain security and the rule of law―the research highlights the complex interplay between formal and informal centers of power that shape internal security dynamics.

Drawing on expert testimonies from high-ranking military officials, policymakers, and practitioners with experience in Afghanistan, Iraq, the Sahel, the Horn of Africa, Libya, and the Balkans, this brief provides unique insights into the realities of stabilization missions. It introduces the concept of Internal Security Architecture, offering a systematic framework to analyze the power structures that influence security and policing.

Through a rigorous methodology and an unprecedented collaboration between military, academic, policing, and think-tank experts, this research operationalizes innovative theoretical concepts. It proposes a set of analytical tools to map and assess internal security structures, supporting military planners and stability policing commanders in designing more effective interventions.

This work lays the foundation for a new approach to crisis and conflict zones, emphasizing scientifically robust and unbiased methods to understand internal security systems. With contributions from leading experts, including insights from policymakers and gender equality specialists, the research advances the discourse on Stability Policing and provides actionable recommendations for the future of security planning and operations.

Luigi Bramati is a Colonel in the Italian Carabinieri Corps. He holds degrees in Law, Political Science, and Security Science from universities in Rome. In 2015, he completed the Italian Joint Defense Staff College Course and earned a Master’s in International and Strategic-Military Studies from Roma Tre University.

He has served in various roles in Italy and abroad, including as Deputy Provost Marshal of the Multinational Division South-East in Iraq (2003) and International Police Advisor in Baghdad (2006). From 2009 to 2015, he was Chief of the “Situation Awareness” Section at Carabinieri HQ’s National Operations Room. He later served as Assistant Defense and Defense Cooperation Attaché at the Italian Embassy in Washington, DC (2016–2019).

Since June 29, 2023, he has been Director of the NATO Stability Policing Centre of Excellence in Vicenza. His 2021 research paper for Italian Defence Ce.Mi.S.S. (Military Centre for Strategic Studies) analyzes lessons from Iraq’s stability policing efforts.

Monique van der Steen is a major in the Royal Netherlands Army serving as a reserve officer since 2010. Within the army she is a consultant specialized Civil Military Interaction and also serves as a gender advisor. In 2006 she graduated from the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, with a master degree in business administration. She specialized in human resources. 

Monique served 10 years in the Dutch National Police and left the force in the rank of inspector. During her police career she held several position as a chief of police in the field of community policing and emergency response. From 2012 until 2023 she held several international civil positions as a police advisor, police coach and program manager of police projects. She served mainly in African countries as Burundi, Congo (Kishasa), Niger, Senegal and the Gambia. Her projects focused on police capacity building, police integrity and criminal justice. During her time in Africa she gained an extended experience with Security Sector Reform.

Dr. Maria (Maki) Haberfeld is a Professor of Police Science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and Chair of the Department of Law, Police Science and Criminal Justice Administration.

She co-created and directs the NYPD Police Leadership Program and developed leadership training initiatives for police chiefs and law enforcement officers. She has trained police forces worldwide, including in Poland, India, China, Turkey, and Kazakhstan, and conducted research in over 70 U.S. police departments and 35 countries. She has also trained U.S. military units, including the Marines.

A leading expert in policing, Dr. Haberfeld has authored, co-authored, or edited 24 books and over 50 scholarly publications. Her research, translated into multiple languages, is widely used in police training programs across the U.S. and internationally.

Dr. Gohar Petrossian is a Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and an Executive Officer of the Criminal Justice Doctoral Program at CUNY Graduate Center. From 2018 to 2023, she directed the International Crime and Justice Master’s Program at John Jay College.

A crime scientist, her research focuses on applying crime science to environmental crime prevention. She has published over 60 scholarly works and has been invited by organizations such as the UNODC, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, FBI, Wildlife Conservation Society, and Flora and Fauna International to discuss environmental crime convergence with drug trafficking, human trafficking, and cybercrime.

Dr. Petrossian has developed training manuals and conducted law enforcement training in Central Asia and Latin America. Her research has been featured by Yale Environment Review, National Geographic, PBS Nature, the U.S. Naval Institute, and Global Fishing Watch.