Destructive entrepreneurship and the security context : Program design considerations for disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) and counterinsurgency

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to deliver insight from the concept of destructive entrepreneurship to program design considerations in conflict regions. Design/methodology/approach – This paper discusses and connects destructive entrepreneurship – an important yet largely unexplored question in the entrepreneurship literature – with security policy, related to evolving directions in the counterinsurgency literature and the traditional disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) literature. Findings – Counterinsurgency is increasingly the approach used by international and domestic policymakers when dealing with regional conflict, and DDR processes have been used for decades to transition former combatants into civilian life. Three broad considerations are particularly salient (timing/sequencing/phasing, benefits and beneficiaries, and measurement) for DDR programs in the counterinsurgency context. Practical implications – An incentives-based approach to understanding destructive entrepreneurship can provide useful insights for these two approaches and in particular, how they can be used together. Originality/value – This paper expands the current scope of understanding of destructive entrepreneurship to the previously unconnected security policy contexts related to counterinsurgency and DDR.