Even though the 18-month long civil war in Syria shows no signs of abating, many are wondering what will occur should the Assad regime collapse. Under this premise, the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), in partnership with the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), recently brought together 45 opposition representatives from Syria to discuss 
SSR Blog
Yearly Archive
Year | 2012
Planning for SSR in a Post-Assad Syria
By: Vanessa Humphries | Friday, October 12th, 2012Politics Stymie Nepal’s Peace Process
By: Asif Farooq | Friday, October 12th, 2012Six years since the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was signed, Nepal remains mired in a political impasse with no obvious solution in sight. Deadlines for producing a constitution have been extended one after another for the last six years. The government is under serious political strain with its major parties quibbling against each other on
Highlighting Electoral Security
By: Isaac Caverhill-Godkewitsch | Thursday, October 11th, 2012The issue of violence around elections is as prevalent as ever. Venezuela and Georgia recently went through contentious elections and emerged unscathed. Kenya may yet face similar fears in their upcoming elections, especially with recent outbreaks of violence from disaffected youth gangs. What are global leaders doing to deal with security and elections? Last month, the Global
From Private Security to Public Good: Regulating the Private Security Industry in Haiti
By: Michael Lawrence | Tuesday, July 3rd, 2012The SSR Resource Centre and CIGI have released SSR Issue Paper no. 9, From Private Security to Public Good: Regulating the Private Security Industry in Haiti, by Geoff Burt. Haiti, like many countries, relies heavily on private security companies to protect people and property. While the private security industry has a vital role to play
Towards a Non-State SSR Strategy
By: Michael Lawrence | Tuesday, May 22nd, 2012The SSR Resource Centre and CIGI have just released SSR Issue Paper no. 8, Towards a Non-State Security Sector Reform Strategy. The paper outlines a comprehensive strategy for engaging non-state actors in SSR by synthesizing the emerging literature on this approach and developing new conceptual tools to advance policy and practice. It explains when and why
Afghanistan as a Test of Canadian Politics: What did we Learn from the Experience?
By: Michael Lawrence | Tuesday, May 15th, 2012CIGI 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
A 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,
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
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