This blog identifies the underlying conditions of the Afghan state from the outset of the late 2001 Bonn political arrangement that has resulted in deep-rooted corrupt clientelistic networks within the Afghan government. This has trickled to the majority of the ministries including the Interior Ministry. Corruption is systemic and hard to combat despite police reform. 
SSR Blog
Category Archive
Category | Asia
The Afghan National Police: A study on corruption and clientelism
By: Danny Singh | Tuesday, November 3rd, 2015Did PRTs in Afghanistan Decrease Security for Aid Workers?
By: David Mitchell | Thursday, June 18th, 2015In an effort to curtail the insurgency in Afghanistan, the US military and International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) blended military and humanitarian operations, much to the dismay of many within the nongovernmental organization (NGO) community. One of the major debates surrounding this effort concerns the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) initiative, which several NGOs have faulted
Maritime Security in the Indian Ocean: Challenges for Pakistan
By: Mohid Iftikhar | Wednesday, June 3rd, 2015Maritime security has become a key issue for policy experts, academics, researchers and various stakeholders. The concept of maritime security can best be defined as the security of sea lines of communication (SLOC), good governance at sea and serene activities for seaborne trade. This article aims at examining crucial aspects of maritime security for Pakistan
Insider Attacks – A Persisting Afghan Threat and Lessons for the Future
By: Ryan Meeks | Thursday, April 2nd, 2015Insider attacks (IA), or ‘Green-on-Blue’ attacks, is the term used for when a member of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) attacks a member of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). IA’s have plagued ISAF since 2008, proving a real and present danger for Coalition personnel within the country. Indeed, 15% of Coalition deaths in
Kazakhstan: Conflict in the Making? – Part Two
By: David Law | Thursday, October 2nd, 2014In the first part of this blog post on Kazakhstan, I argued that the country had every chance to rise to the challenge set by its president, namely for the country to become one of the world’s top 30 most developed by 2050 – and this in an atmosphere of ethnic tolerance and cooperation, such as largely
Kazakhstan: Wildflower Rising from the Steppes! – Part One
By: David Law | Wednesday, October 1st, 2014On the surface, all seems well in this ethnically, linguistically and religiously diverse country of some 18 million, occupying a space roughly the size of Western Europe.
The Danger of Unfinished Security Sector Reform in Afghanistan
By: Mark Sedra | Tuesday, September 30th, 2014“Security is a main demand of our people, and we are tired of this war,” Ashraf Ghani declared in his first speech as President of Afghanistan following the country’s first democratic transition of power. Inauguration day was a relief for Afghans and foreign observers alike as it brought an end to several months of political
Indonesia’s State Intelligence Agency: Reform and Its Challenges
By: Beni Sukadis | Tuesday, September 16th, 2014Indonesia’s president elect Joko Widodo is now busy drafting the cabinet lineup for his upcoming administration, which will take power in October 2014. These days almost everyone talks about candidates for such high-profile portfolios like the minister of foreign affairs, minister of defense, or minister of home affairs. But almost no one, except a few
Re-thinking Stabilisation and the Security Sector
By: Christian Dennys | Thursday, July 10th, 2014Over the last few years, there has been a rapid expansion of stabilisation activity, much of which has been focused on the security sector in some form. Stabilisation has often been weakly defined, often allowing a whole range of activities to claim to be stabilising with little supporting evidence. The recently new definition from the
A Dearth of Demilitarization: The State of Security Sector Reform in 2014 Thailand
By: Paul Chambers | Tuesday, July 1st, 2014The May 22, 2014 coup marked the death knell to any possible progress toward security sector reform (SSR) in Thailand. SSR generally possesses: 1) active oversight by democratically-elected civilians; 2) institutionalized accountability, efficiency, and transparency under the rule of law; 3) civilian-monitored resources which are not overly budgeted; and 4) a role for civil society
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