The interior ministry's role in security sector reform / Robert M. Perito.

Format:

Book

Government document

Author/Creator:

Perito, Robert, 1942-

Contributor:

United States Institute of Peace

Series:

Special report (United States Institute of Peace) ; 223.

Special report ; 223

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

National security--Iraq.

National security.

Internal security--Iraq.

Internal security.

Security sector--Iraq.

Security sector.

Iraq--Politics and government--2003-.

Iraq.

Politics and government.

Physical Description:

1 online resource ([18] pages).

Place of Publication:

Washington, DC : U.S. Institute of Peace, 2009.

Summary:

"Efforts to create an effective interior ministry and a community-oriented police service cannot succeed unless they take place within an overall effort for security sector reform (SSR): the highly political and complex task of transforming the institutions and organizations responsible for dealing with security threats to the state and its citizens. The most critical--and most often neglected--focus of SSR is the bureaucratic agency responsible for the police and other internal security forces. In Iraq, Afghanistan, and earlier peace and stability operations, the United States went directly to the task of training indigenous police, giving little thought to the interior ministry--the institution to which the police would report. The U.S. effort to reform Iraq's interior ministry provides an object lesson in the ruinous consequences of failure to transform the organization that controls internal security forces, particularly when confronting an insurgency and sectarian violence. U.S. failure to reform Iraq's interior ministry resulted from a failure to understand the ministry's role and the steps involved in successful ministerial reform. These steps are assessment, strategic planning, technical assistance and training for ministry functions, evaluation, and incorporating lessons learned. U.S. efforts to reform Iraq's interior ministry also suffered from lack of 'counterpart entities' in the U.S. government and from the resulting reliance on military personnel and contractors. Successful organizational transformation depends on ministerial advisers' ability to convey recommendations for change in a manner acceptable to ministry officials. Successful ministerial advising requires careful selection of the adviser, the right training, and conscientious supervision. Creation of the State Department's Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization and also of the Civilian Response Corps, which will include security sector reform and police advisers, is a positive step, but the U.S. government will need more authority, manpower, and training to conduct effective reform of interior ministries and police forces in future peace and stability operations."

Contents:

Introduction

Ministerial reform

How reform misfired in Iraq

Essential steps in ministry reform

Role of advisers in ministry reform

Lack of capacity impedes reform programs

New institutions

Conclusions.

Notes:

Title from title screen (viewed on Dec. 23, 2009).

"May 2009."

Includes bibliographical references.

Electronic reproduction. [Place of publication not identified] : HathiTrust Digital Library, 2011.

Other Format:

Perito, Robert Interior ministry's role in security sector reform

OCLC:

494049917

Access Restriction:

Use copy Restrictions unspecified