Civil-Military Relations and Democratic Control of the Security Sector

Education and Personnel Management
century security environment, to be aware of different cultures, to understand and respect international
humanitarian law and human rights, to use creatively advanced information and communications
technologies, to appreciate the obscure boundaries among the use of military,
diplomatic, psychological and other tools for influencing an opponent, as well as the specific
requirements of interagency and international cooperation.
Therefore, the emphasis in the education of security personnel shifts increasingly towards
leadership curricula. This type of curricula stipulates specific learning objectives as precisely as
possible and, yet, they should also promote general learning objectives in order to ensure corporate
unity of the profession irrespective of changes in society, in warfare, security and defense
policies. These objectives are: “participation; creativity; flexibility; critical reasoning; the
ability to obtain information and organize it; the ability to communicate and exchange information;
social awareness; endurance in conflict; readiness to accept responsibility, and the ability
to inspire corporate unity.” 5
In addition, the education of security personnel is a continuous process that should be embedded
in their whole career. Fortunately, advanced information technologies, simulations,
distance and distributed learning technologies in particular, provide ample opportunities to organize
a continuous learning process for practically all categories of security personnel. 6
Finally, the measures to establish a process for education, that adequately reflects all listed
considerations, need to be examined as an essential ingredient of democratic oversight of the
security sector.
Career management
Career management of the security personnel should strictly follow a number of principles:
Application of standardized personnel management regulations that are well known and
relatively stable;
Regular evaluation of each member of the security organization within a transparent, objective
and fair process;
Selection and promotion based on merit and personal quality (rather than party or ideological
allegiance);
Application of professional and clear criteria for appointment of top security personnel; civilian
and, in some cases parliamentarian sanction of all senior appointments;
Sustaining sufficient pool of possible candidates for promotion and assignment on a particular
position, especially on top positions in the security sector;
Appointment of civilians on top management positions;
5 Detlef E. Herold and Hans E. Radbruch, “Overview: Military Education in the Context of the Euro-
Atlantic Security Area,” in The Role of Military Education in the Restructuring of Armed Forces, eds. Ernst
Gilman and Detlef E. Herold, NATO Defense College Monograph Series, No. 1 (Rome: NATO Defense
College, 1993), pp. 1-8.
6 Kateryna Synytsya, ed., Advanced Distributed Learning, Special issue of Information & Security,
vol. 14 (2004).
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