the process of security sector reform - ISAC Fund

George Katsirdakis SECURITY SECTOR REFORM FROM A NATO VIEWPOINT
George Katsirdakis SECURITY SECTOR REFORM FROM A NATO VIEWPOINT
With the understandings just expressed, several SSR practitioners maintain that,
essentially, SSR is about Good Governance. Their view is that Good Governance
refers to the institutionalization of transparency in the activities of the various
public bodies, their democratic accountability, the need to make effective use
of resources for legitimate purposes and to take account of the views of he civil
society. Since SSR refers to the same elements, SSR, they maintain, is nothing
else but one big chapter of the broader issue of Good Governance.
Indeed a country in which the security sector is reformed and can be characterised
by the elements of Good Governance just mentioned could be perceived as a
country with democratic principles that may still require improvements but
which has managed to put the security sector under democratic control.
THE ELEMENTS OF THE SECURITY SECTOR
Turning now to the elements, the components, or as usually referred to, the
“actors” of the security sector, one can find, reading the related literature, that
there is no definitive list of them, generally accepted by everybody. However,
there is a general agreement that the Security sector consists essentially of two
groups of organisations. The first group includes all those organisations that
are authorised by the state to use force, where necessary, in order to ensure
that the state is secure both from internal and from external threats. The second
group includes all those actors whose role is to exercise civil management and
oversight of the organizations belonging to the first group.
ORGANISATIONS AUTHORISED TO USE FORCE
The Armed Forces
In most countries, comprising the Land Forces, the Air Forces and the Naval
Forces and in some countries also the Marines, the Armed Forces constitute by
far the biggest actor in the Security sector field and, even more so, they are the
biggest actor of the Defence Sector – a subset of the security sector. The Armed
Forces have key responsibility in the defence of the country from an external
threat but, in most countries, their role in internal security challenges is limited
to support the forces of law and order if such support is required.
In particular, the Armed Forces, because of their size, organisation, training,
capabilities and equipment, can deal very effectively with an external organised,
relatively large force which threatens the sovereignty, the territorial integrity
and the security of the country.
If, however, the external threat comes from small groups, like terrorists, traffickers,
organised crime and similar sources, the Armed Forces may not be the right actor
to deal with such threats. Although the Armed Forces could still support the effort
of other state authorities by offering intelligence support, support through the use
of sophisticated equipment normally not available to the forces of law and order
or of border security, and possibly also with the formation of special mixed task
forces with military and law and order forces, the key role in the case of such
threats is entrusted to the law and order forces.
In the case of internal security threats of limited scale, the main responsibility
lies normally with the forces of law and order while, like in the previous case,
the Armed Forces may be called to support the effort.
In case, however, the internal threat is of a massive nature, like in the case of large
scale violence, rebellion or secessionist activity, then again it is the responsibility
of the Armed Forces to deal with the problem closely assisted by the forces of
internal security and law and order. In a democratic society, if such an emergency
appears that the use of the Armed Forces is considered indispensable, the expectation
is, that as soon as the situation appears to be manageable by the internal
security and law and order forces, the Armed Forces will return to their barracks
leaving the control of the situation to the appropriate internal security forces.
They could still provide support to the internal security forces but they should not
be in charge of the situation themselves.
Usually, one more case where the Armed Forces may have an important role in
internal emergencies may be the case of large natural or technological disasters
where they can provide assistance to the population and protect them from danger
since the resources of the Armed Forces are more adapted to cases of massive
disasters than those of the forces of internal security. In such cases though, the
activity of the Armed Forces should be closely coordinated with that of the forces
of internal security, the forces of law and order, the humanitarian agencies and
other bodies that could be activated in such emergencies. These emergencies are
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