Security Sector Reform and Donor Assistance in Serbia - Defence ...

Security Sector Reform and Donor Assistance in Serbia:Complexity of Managing ChangeDr Amadeo WatkinsExecutive SummaryThis short paper will focus mainly on the policies and approaches that have been pursued bythe EU (and other) institutions and Member States in Serbia’s Security Sector Reform (SSR)process. More specifically, the case study provides a critical assessment of the past 10 yearsof assistance provided to this important sector and tries to answer the following twoquestions:What role has donor assistance played in SSR efforts in Serbia?What are the ways to further improve such assistance in the future?The paper does not aim to analyse SSR per se, bur rather looks at the influence externalactors, acting through donations and other forms of assistance, have had on the SSRprocess itself.To date, there has been little significant reflection on the experiences of support given tosecurity sector reform efforts. Few evaluations have been carried out to assess theeffectiveness of assistance provided to such activities and little has been done to draw outthe lessons learned from the engagements that have taken place.It is important to first define what we mean by the security sector and security sector reform.The paper’s theoretical foundation thus rests on excellent texts such as the OECD-DAChandbook. Furthermore, as will be seen below, most of the conclusions from this publicationare reinforced in this case study.The security sector is taken to mean all those organisations which have authority to use, ororder the use of force, or threat of force, to protect the state and its citizens, as well as thosecivil structures that are responsible for their management and oversight. While there aremany definitions, for the purposes of this paper SSR is essentially aimed at the efficient andeffective provision of state and human security within a framework of democraticgovernance 1 . This definition is used as it highlights the governance aspects of SSR, which ismore relevant to a state such as Serbia, differentiated from security sector reconstructionprevalent in post-conflict countries.While it is now widely accepted that SSR needs to be looked at holistically and encompassesa wide range of government actors, this paper focuses only on two areas which havereceived the largest share of external assistance, namely the defence sector and the policesector. Whilst it touches on the EU’s Common Foreign & Security Policy (previously the 2 ndand 3 rd pillars – i.e. mainly Justice & Home Affairs - JHA), it does not explore it in detail.1 Alan Bryden & Heiner Hanggi, Security Governance in Post-conflict Peacebuilding, Yearbook 3,DCAF 2005, p.24.1Security Sector Reform and Donor Assistance in Serbia: Complexity of Managing ChangeDefence Academy of the United Kingdom978-1-905962-87-7September 2010