Ebook: Security Sector Transformation in Southeastern Europe and the Middle East

For most countries, security today is primarily measured in non-military terms and threats to security are non-military in nature. These threats include incompetent government, corruption, organized crime, insecure borders, smuggling [weapons, drugs, contraband, people], illegal migration, ethnic and religious conflict, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, shortage of natural resources [e.g., water] and, of course, terrorism.

There may have been some SSR-related developments that are not covered by the respective country chapters because of the usual in academic circles delay between a seminar/workshop and the eventual publication of the proceedings.

As security is no longer just a military concern, it is no longer just the preserve of MODs and MFAs which have, to date, been the main ministries involved in security cooperation. It is no longer possible to draw a clear distinction between external security and internal security. Security henceforth requires the coordination of the ‘external’ ministries [i.e., MOD and MFA] and their agencies [armed forces, intelligence services] with those of the 'interior' ministries: internal affairs, education, finance, overseas development, transport, environment; health, etc., with their agencies [policing forces, security services, disaster relief agencies, etc.]. Security today takes in social development and demands the involvement of all elements of society in a way which security in the Cold War days did not. Meeting these new security requirements demands fundamental reform of national structures, patterns of investment, and systems of government. Likewise it demands the evolution of international institutions on a truly radical scale.

The security sector of a state may be defined broadly as encompassing those elements granted a legitimate and exclusive role in the exercise of coercive power in society to deal with external and internal threats to the security of the state and its citizens. As such, security sector reform (SSR) encompasses all those organizations that have the authority to use, or order the use of force, or the threat of force, as well as those civil structures that are responsible for their management. The organizations concerned include: military and paramilitary forces, intelligence services, police forces, both national and local, together with border guards and customs services, judicial and penal systems, and the civil authorities mandated to oversee these agencies.

The overall aim of SSR is the transformation of security institutions so that they play an effective, legitimate and democratically accountable role in providing external and internal security for their citizens. Institutional reform focuses upon building up their capacities in line with the standards assumed appropriate to the democratic political context. Transformation of the security sector requires broad consultation and includes goals such as strengthening civilian control and oversight of the security sector, professionalisation of the security forces, demilitarization and peace-building; and strengthening the rule of law. SSR is therefore about much more than the internal structure of security forces; it promotes the strengthening of norms in relation to the proper relationship between the security sector and society at large.

To implement such changes in a civil-military partnership requires, among other, a civilian body of experts knowledgeable enough to address defence and security issues with credibility and confidence. Without such civilian expertise, decision-makers cannot take hard decisions which are opposed by the entrenched and conservative military staff. Building such an expert civilian security community is the sine qua non of defence and security sector reform.

The volume at hand is the outcome of two seminars organized by ELIAMEP in Tirana (27–29 February 2004) and Halki (7–11 September 2005) with the support of NATO's Science Programme. ELIAMEP would like to express its gratitude to Professor Fernando Carvalho Rodrigues, Scientific Director of NATO's Science Programme for his support of our SSR activities during the past few years. I would also like to thank our partners in the two seminars: the Institute for Contemporary Studies in Tirana and the Albanian Media Institute for the Tirana seminar and the Jordanian Center for Strategic Studies, and especially Dr. Nawaff Tell, for the Halki seminar.

Finally, I would like to emphasize ELIAMEP's continuing commitment to the issue of Security Sector Reform, through new workshops in the context of the Halki International Seminars, or other meetings with our counterparts in Southeastern Europe, the Black Sea, the Mediterranean and the Middle East, as well as our close cooperation with the Arab Reform Initiative (ARI), and the Euro-Mediterranean Study Commission (EuroMeSCO).

Thanos Dokos, Director-General, Hellenic Foundation for European & Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP), Athens

This essay critically examines the motives behind the Justice and Development Party government's attempts to alter a balance of power that has served to sustain the military's self-ordained guardianship role by analyzing the government's strategic power calculus and the nature of the military's response to it. It is argued that the primary catalyst for the realignment of the civil-military has been the impact of broader foreign policy changes, notably the usefulness of the government's Islamic and democratic credentials for the Western alliance and the entry requirements of the EU, which include the democratic control of the armed forces. The internal factor that has had a significant effect on the civil-military balance is the government's deliberate steps to circumscribe the military's sphere of political influence. The combination of internal and international forces has brought about an increase in the secure space within which the government can maneuver without drawing a reaction from the military.

Palestinian Security Sector Reform (SSR) is a process that has only very recently begun. Following the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and strong international and domestic pressure, the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) in 2005, for the first time undertook serious efforts to reform its security architecture. However, the PNA security sector carries heavy institutional legacies that make quick progress in SSR unlikely, notwithstanding massive involvement by the International Community. At the same time, the internal security situation in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) is deteriorating dramatically, with the Palestinian population bearing the consequences in the form of lawlessness, crime and economic decline. This chapter argues that if Palestinian SSR is to be successful, a comprehensive and long-term reform approach is needed which works parallely on the political, normative-institutional and organisational front.