The European Union and Security Sector Reform: current practices and challenges of implementation

Abstract

This article presents an introduction to the special volume, titled The European Union (EU) and the Security Sector Reform Practices: Challenges of Implementation, by framing the debate on the EU's Security Sector Reform (SSR) activities in a variety of conflict and post-conflict settings. Drawing on the existing body of literature on SSR, the analytical model proposed here allows us to identify, categorize, and group a wide range of factors that are relevant for understanding the performance of the EU as an SSR actor. This article introduces the main themes of this special issue, summarizes each individual contribution briefly, extends the main research findings of this special issue, and concludes with broad commonalities across different cases. It is a conceptual article outlining a discussion of wider theoretical reflections based on the empirical contributions presented in this volume, and provides an explanatory framework for success or failure in the individual case studies that follow.

Defense sector reform in the Western Balkans – different approaches and different tools

“…This principle has been embraced by all major actors in international development during the last decade (OECD 2005, United Nations 2012, and also emphasized in the academic literature (Nathan 2008, Donais 2008, Ismail 2008, Dursun-Ozkanca and Vandemoortele 2012. The effects of SSR, Brzoska argues however, will only last if they are based on a growing sense of control by domestic decision-makers and civil society groups.…”

The implementation of the EU security sector reform policies in the Democratic Republic of Congo?

“…From the definition of SSR provided by Dursun-Ozkanca and Vandemoortele (2012) in the introduction to this special issue, it is clear that these policies go beyond the level of the individual state. Given its complexity, SSR can best be understood from a governance perspective, in which a broad number of public and private actors that are linked through mutual resource dependencies are involved (see United Nations 2006, Ekengren andSimons 2011, Jö rgel 2011).…”

The discourse of security in development policies: A genealogical approach to “Security Sector Reform”

“…It has been a key component of the EU's defence and foreign security policy in a security–development–good governance paradigm. The EU is now the key player on this issue in terms of financial resources and dedicated staff, despite the absence of a genuine common policy and incidents of competition on the ground between European states (Dursun‐Özkanca, ). In 2004, USAID endorsed an OECD Policy Brief on Security System Reform and governance (OECD, ) on behalf of the US government, and in 2009 it co‐published guidelines with the US Department of Defense on the implementation of SSR (Department of State, Department of Defense, & USAID, ).…”

“…And second, it means protection from sudden and hurtful disruptions in the patterns of daily life-whether in homes, in jobs or in communities." incidents of competition on the ground between European states (Dursun-Özkanca, 2014 2009). USAID's positioning is, moreover, comparable, to that of DFID earlier, as here too the agency was negotiating for its "institutional survival" through its involvement in the bid to eliminate the roots of terrorism (Makki, 2005).…”