CIGI and the SSR resource Centre have just released the 10th and final edition of the Afghanistan Papers. Stephen Saideman’s paper, Afghanistan as a Test of Canadian Politics, considers lessons that can be drawn from the Canadian effort in Afghanistan, especially the challenges of trying to build security, governance and development in Kandahar. First, it 
SSR Blog
Yearly Archive
Year | 2012
Afghanistan as a Test of Canadian Politics: What did we Learn from the Experience?
By: Michael Lawrence | Tuesday, May 15th, 2012A Response to ‘Policing in Palestine’
By: Michael Lawrence | Friday, May 11th, 2012The recent SSR Issue Paper Policing in Palestine: The EU Police Reform Mission in the West Bank by Madeline Kristoff examines the process of police reform, makes policy recommendations, and ultimately concludes that the construction of legitimate and sustainable Palestinian institutions requires a credible Palestinian-Israeli peace process. We are pleased that Henrik Malmquist, head of
“Rule of Law and Security Sector Reform – A pragmatic approach to addressing the security and justice spectrum”
By: Michael Lawrence | Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012The Clingendael Conflict Research unit has just released a new policy brief on better integrating security security reform with rule of law programming. As summarized by the authors: Policymakers and practitioners working on Rule of Law (RoL) Reform and Security Sector Reform (SSR) have a tendency to demarcate strict areas of competence between the two
Can NATO Rethink its Exit Strategy from Afghanistan?
By: Michael Lawrence | Wednesday, March 7th, 2012Steve Coll, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Ghost Wars and now President of the New America Foundation, has just published a Policy Brief – “Can NATO Rethink its Exit Strategy from Afghanistan?” – with the Centre for International Policy Studies at the University of Ottawa. After reviewing other historical precedents of international withdrawal from Afghanistan,
Security and Justice Training Course
By: Geoff Burt | Tuesday, February 21st, 2012The University of Birmingham is offering an immersive and participatory three and a half day training course, which mimics as closely as possible the real-life experience of designing, implementing and reviewing a security and justice intervention in a developing country. The course is designed to be a practical case study orientated introduction to security and
SSR Issue Paper: “Policing in Palestine: Analyzing the EU Police Reform Mission in the West Bank”
By: Geoff Burt | Thursday, February 2nd, 2012Police reform in the Palestinian Territories has faced many challenges. Rebuilding the police force in a post-conflict environment is not an easy task, and must take into account the community’s needs in order to build legitimacy. In 2006, the European Union Police Coordinating Office for Palestinian Police Support was established to support the short-term objectives
The War on Drugs as a Threat to SSR
By: Michael Lawrence | Tuesday, January 31st, 2012In some ways Mexico’s full-fledged war against its drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) advances the goals of SSR. Behind the scenes of bloody confrontation, police forces at various levels are undergoing a process of vetting and reform intended to root out corruption and improve capacity and coordination. Similarly, the country’s judicial system is advancing a modernization
SSR Issue Paper: Strategic Support to Security Sector Reform in Afghanistan, 2001-2010
By: Geoff Burt | Thursday, January 26th, 2012The lack of strategic direction and political agreement in security sector reform (SSR) in Afghanistan is an ongoing struggle. The latest CIGI SSR Issue Paper by Tom Hamilton-Baillie and Christian Dennys is entitled, “Strategic Support to Security Sector Reform in Afghanistan, 2001-2010″ and focuses on disarmament, demobilization and reintegration, in addition to police and army
A Complex Systems Approach to the Drug War in Mexico: Resources, Violence and Order
By: Geoff Burt | Friday, January 20th, 2012CIGI Researcher Michael Lawrence has published a paper at the University of Waterloo’s Institute for Complexity and Innovation entitled “A Complex Systems Approach to the Drug War in Mexico: Resources, Violence and Order.” While other accounts stress the chaotic turmoil of the conflict, this approach begins by examining the relationship between the violence and the
SSR Issue Paper: Security Sector Governance in Pakistan: Progress, But Many Challenges Persist
By: Geoff Burt | Friday, January 13th, 2012The US Navy SEAL raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound on May 2, 2011 brought into question the Pakistani army’s domination over nearly all aspects of the state. Pakistanis wondered how these events could have occurred right under the nose of the military. The latest SSR Issue Paper examines the prospects for security sector governance
