Security Sector Reform/Governance

Countries transitioning to democracy must change old models of organizing the police, armed services, and intelligence services, which typically were characterized by mistreatment of the public, for models that stress transparency, accountability, and citizen involvement. Yet each new government in the Middle East and North Africa must tailor its reforms carefully and patiently in order to avoid backlash among security services.

The Day After project brought together a group of Syrians representing a large spectrum of the Syrian opposition—including senior representatives of the Syrian National Council (SNC), members of the Local Coordination Committees in Syria (LCC), and unaffiliated opposition figures from inside Syria and the Diaspora representing all major political trends and components of Syrian society—to participate in an independent transition planning process.

Covers the missions, cultures, and operating procedures of international organizations, regional organizations, government organizations, militaries, and nongovernmental organizations in peace and stability operations, as well as inter-organizational planning, communication, and coordination.
 

What Iraq needs now is for us to remember that it is not defined by its political leaders, nor by its violent minority, nor by its past, nor by its neighbors near and afar, but by the aspirations and will of its people.

USIP’s top program staff visited the Institute’s Kabul office in early May to meet with key leaders and discuss the transition in Afghanistan in 2014, a week before the 2012 NATO Summit in Chicago May 20-21. USIP’s Shahmahmood Miakhel, country director in Kabul, Andrew Wilder, director of Afghanistan and Pakistan programs and Scott Smith, deputy director of Afghanistan programs, met with Maj. Gen. Sean MacFarland, the deputy chief of staff for operations for ISAF in Afghanistan. The group discussed the myriad issues that Afghanistan, ISAF and the international community face as the 2014 transition looms

USIP's experts on Afghanistan provide a preview of the key issues at the NATO summit in Chicago.

So-called capacity building, the transfer of knowledge and skills, has become a key approach to addressing stabilization and reconstruction in post-conflict and post-crisis environments. But we should also think of capacity building as the approach to preventing conflict: “preventive capacity building.” In an environment of austerity and fiscal responsibility, strengthening the capacity of fragile states in order to assist in the development of their ability to manage conflict makes more sense than ever.