Security sector reform has become a key component of international donors’ efforts to improve security in conflict-affected and developing states. Its success, however, has been limited because program designers rarely fully comprehend, or ignore, how developing countries’ security sectors actually function. How then can we better understand the impact of neo-patrimonial practices – where a 
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Security Sector Reform in Patrimonial and Low-capacity States
By: Liam O’Shea | Friday, August 12th, 2016Does SSR improve security in developing countries?
By: Lisa Denney and Craig Valters | Tuesday, July 26th, 2016Many millions have been spent trying to reform the security sector in developing countries. Since the late-1990s, these programmes have become popular as the importance of security for development was recognized. In countries as diverse as Jamaica, Liberia, Malawi, Pakistan and Timor-Leste, donors and other parts of government have trained police and judges, built courts
SSR 2.0 Brief No. 5 - Security Sector Reform, Legitimate Politics and SDG 16
By: Geoff Burt | Thursday, July 21st, 2016This blog post provides an overview of a new SSR 2.0 Brief – Security Sector Reform, Legitimate Politics and SDG 16 - published by the Centre for Security Governance. It also highlights the main policy recommendations discussed by the author, CSG Senior Fellow Geoff Burt.
Security Sector Reform and Hybrid Security Governance in Africa
By: Niagalé Bagayoko, Eboe Hutchful & Robin Luckham | Wednesday, June 29th, 2016Prevailing approaches to security sector reform (SSR) have tended to stress Westphalian notions of the state characterized by legal-rational norms and institutions. Thus, SSR processes have more often than not concentrated on the formal arrangements of the state and its security and justice institutions. Yet, such approaches are fundamentally at variance with the underlying realities of
Local and External Perceptions of Security Sector Reform in Guinea-Bissau
By: Christoph Kohl | Friday, February 5th, 2016For almost ten years, the small West African country of Guinea-Bissau has been subject to security sector reform as part of international peacebuilding interventions. Since gaining independence in 1973-74, the former Portuguese colony has been characterized by political instability, coups d’état, military overthrow attempts, and the interference of military factions within politics.
Publication Announcement - CSG Insight No.10: Ukraine’s Updated Security Sector Laws: What promise do these laws hold?
By: Antoine Vandemoortele | Tuesday, January 19th, 2016The Centre for Security Governance has just published its latest CSG Insight, “Ukraine’s Updated Security Sector Laws: What promise do these laws hold?” written by Joseph L. Derdzinski. This article analyzes recent updates and changes to Ukraine’s security sector laws. The author provides a useful overview and assessment of the challenges to security sector reform in
Ukraine’s Updated Security Sector Laws: What promise do these laws hold?
By: Joe Derdzinski | Thursday, November 12th, 2015Multiple potholes dot Ukraine’s road to a more accountable and liberal political regime: its 12% decline in GDP this year; the military stalemate in the east and the de facto loss of Crimea; and, of course, entrenched political malaise and corruption. It is within this challenging environment that crucial political and security reforms are taking
Who’s afraid of plural security? New research on security provision beyond the state
By: Megan Price and Bart Weijs | Thursday, November 5th, 2015Security in fragile and conflict-affected contexts is provided by a multitude of actors, with varying relationships to the state (plural security provision). An October 2015 knowledge event offered academics, practitioners and policymakers a platform to present and dialogue around empirical cases of plural security provision at city level, focusing on how state and international development
Publication Announcement - CSG Paper No.2: Civil Military Cooperation and Security Sector Reform in Complex Humanitarian Emergencies
By: Antoine Vandemoortele | Friday, August 28th, 2015The Centre for Security Governance has just published its latest CSG Paper, “Civil Military Cooperation and Security Sector Reform in Complex Humanitarian Emergencies” written by David Last. This CSG Paper analyzes the nature of civil military relations and describes how they affect civil military cooperation and civil affairs in complex humanitarian emergencies. Understanding these relationships helps professionals
Publication Announcement - CSG Insight No.8: Programming Tools: Another Way of Keeping External Control of the SSR Process?
By: Antoine Vandemoortele | Wednesday, August 26th, 2015The Centre for Security Governance has just published its latest CSG Insight, “Programming Tools: Another Way of Keeping External Control of the SSR Process?” written by Dr. Anthony Welch. This article analyzes new tools available for more effective security sector reform programming. The author argues that such SSR programming tools might however be another way of keeping the decision making in external hands and away
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