PrintSecurity Sector Governance Center
part of the Centers of Innovation
Center Highlights
Conference: Security Sector Transformation in North Africa and the Middle East
May 2012
The Security Sector Governance Center held its third annual conference on security sector governance on May 10, drawing in activists from North Africa and the Middle East as well as former U.S. ambassadors to the region to assess the political and security-sector challenges arising from the “Arab Awakening.” (Watch the conference: Part I & Part II)
Liberia: Defense Minister Hon. Brownie Samukai on the Security Sector
April 2012
Speaking at USIP on April 4, Liberian Defense Minister Hon. Brownie Samukai outlined plans to have the nation's security forces and institutions fully operational by 2014. Samukai said he thought Liberia made a very good example of post-conflict security sector transformation.
Dispatch from Libya
January 2012
Three months after Qaddafi’s death, progress toward establishing basic security in Libya is uneven. Center Director Bob Perito files this dispatch from Benghazi and Tripoli.
Leadership
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Director, Security Sector Governance Center
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USIP's Security Sector Governance Center focuses on a critical element of sustainable peace: developing security forces and supervising institutions that are effective, legitimate, apolitical, and accountable to the citizens they are sworn to protect.
All too often, security sector reform in practice is reduced to "train and equip" programs that ignore supervisory institutions. USIP focuses on security sector governance - the building of sustainable, locally owned institutions capable of supporting professional police and military forces.
Events
USIP's Security Sector Governance Center convenes regular public forums on issues related to security forces and their supervisory institutions. These panel discussions and roundtables bring together U.S. officials, practitioners, academics, non-profit leaders, and members of the private sector to share lessons learned.
- 2012 Conference on Security Sector Transformation in North Africa and the Middle East | May 10, 2012
- Security Sector Reform in Liberia | April 4, 2012
- Policing Iraq | February 29, 2012
- Police Corruption | November 16, 2011
- Monopoly of Force | September 12, 2011
- Foreign Police Assistance | July 8, 2011
- 2011 Conference on Security Sector Transformation in North Africa and the Middle East | June 30, 2011
- Who Controls Pakistan's Security Forces? | April 19, 2011
- Afghanistan: The Nexus between Disarming and Rebuilding Armed Forces | February 3, 2011
- More events on security sector governance
Publications & Tools
USIP publications provide the latest analysis of international development and policy recommendations on world affairs issues, particularly the prevention and resolution of conflict. USIP's recent publications on security sector governance include:
- Afghanistan's Civil Order Police: Victim of its own Success
Special Report | Robert Perito | May 2012 - Maritime Security Sector Reform
Special Report | John F. Sandoz | May 2012 - Security Sector Reform in Tunisia: A Year after the Jasmine Revolution
Special Report | Querine Hanlon | March 2012 - Innovative Transformation: An Evaluation of the Ministry of Defense Advisors Program
Report | Robert Perito and Victoria Stattel | March 2012 - Police Corruption: What Past Scandals Teach about Current Challenges
Special Report | David Bayley and Robert Perito | November 2011 - From Militants to Policemen: Three Lessons from U.S. Experience with DDR and SSR
Peace Brief | Alison Laporte-Oshiro | November 2011 - Who Controls Pakistan's Security Forces?
Special Report | Shuja Nawaz | November 2011 - Security Sector Transformation in North Africa and the Middle East
Special Report | Mark Sedra | November 2011 - The Iraq Federal Police
Special Report | Robert Perito | October 2011 - Missed Opportunities: The Impact of DDR on SSR in Afghanistan
Special Report | Caroline Hartzell | April 2011 - The European Union's Experience with Security Sector Governance
Special Report | Louis-Alexandre Berg | January 2011 - Browse the archive
Security Sector Reform Advisory Teams
USIP is working with U.S. government agencies to identify, train and equip multidisciplinary teams to support embassy country teams and combatant commands. The teams have the rapid respond capability to make country assessments, develop strategic plans and consult on implementation.
Senior Seminar on Security Sector Reform
Security sector reform is a relatively new concept that is not widly understood within the U.S. government. USIP has developed a seminar for senior officials that introduces the key precepts, existing policies, interagency coordination mechanisms, and guiding principles for implementing security sector reform programs in fragile and transitional countries.
Justice and Security Dialogues
USIP's Rule of Law Center has pioneered a process for establishing Justice and Security Dialogues between security forces, government officials and civil society to build trust and achieve common understanding on issues related to security sector reform, rule of law and improved governance in conflict zones.