On November 5, USIP convened a panel of experts to discuss the array of difficulties in restructuring military, police and intelligence agencies that persist after the initial optimism with demise of previous regimes.

USIP Specialists Call Security Sector Reform in North Africa Difficult but Essential

November 7, 2012

The reform of security sectors in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya is critical to the success of the political transitions underway since the historic uprisings against authoritarian governments in those countries, but such efforts have had a slow start and face major obstacles that reflect the broader struggles to develop democratic systems, according to specialists with the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP).

The USIP experts spoke at a November 5 forum, “The Challenge of Security Sector Reform in the Arab World,” which focused on the array of difficulties in restructuring military, police and intelligence agencies that persist after the initial optimism with demise of previous regimes.  

Calling security sector reform “an urgent topic,” Steven Heydemann, USIP’s senior adviser for Middle East initiatives, said its success “will largely determine the fate of the transitions…that began almost two years ago.” He referred to “troubling signs,” including clashes among militias in Libya and resistance to reform within the security establishments of Egypt and Tunisia.

Robert Perito, director of USIP’s Security Sector Governance Center, noted that in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya the security sectors were physical symbols of the “denial of fundamental human rights.” In each country, he said, “security is the primary concern of the people and its leaders.” The reform situation in each country has some common features but there are considerable differences as well, Perito said. Tunisia and Egypt have strong security institutions that endure, while Libya’s were effectively dismantled by the Qaddafi regime and must now be rebuilt, he said.

Security sector reform involves not only security agencies but also the executive branch of government and the courts, and it “is a highly political process,” Perito said. The reforms need public buy-in and to incorporate principles of good governance, and they need to include civilian oversight of security agencies, even though the region has little tradition of that, he said. The obstacles suggest that 2013 will be “a year of very rocky times,” he said.

Tunisia. “There’s still cause for optimism,” Querine Hanlon, the National Defense University senior fellow at USIP’s Academy for International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding, said of reform prospects. However, the country is struggling with growing violence, including the September attack by protesters on the U.S. Embassy in Tunis, and police are demanding more pay and protection and do not have clear authority in the use of force, she said. Despite elections that resulted in a coalition government led by a moderate Islamist party, “very little has been accomplished in the past year,” said Hanlon, author of a USIP Special Report, “Security Sector Reform in Tunisia: A Year after the Jasmine Revolution.” Neither Islamists nor secularists are happy with the caretaker government’s approach to the security sector, which remains “unprepared for a new role” in a democracy, she said. Without security reforms, Hanlon said, “Tunisia’s transition may well be in danger.”

Egypt. Security sector reform is being blocked by the military’s unwillingness to extract itself from its considerable economic interests and influence over political affairs, said Daniel Brumberg, USIP senior program officer for the Middle East and co-director of the Democracies Studies Program at Georgetown University. “There are much deeper interests,” he said. “There’s huge resistance.” A prospective withdrawal of Egypt’s military from the political sphere is seen by secularists as removing their protection from Islamist power, he said. Brumberg suggested that “quiet diplomacy” by the United States, in dialogue with Egypt’s security sector, holds the best prospects for moving forward.

Hesham Sallam, co-editor of the web magazine Jadaliyya, agreed that “there are no clear signals” the Egyptian military will cede its political and economic privileges. “There’s a long road ahead,” he said. President Mohamed Morsi, who must manage the pressures from entrenched bureaucrats known as “the deep state” and his own Muslim Brotherhood, will play a critical role in building a national consensus for security reforms amid political polarization in Egypt, Sallam said. Brumberg and Sallam co-authored a USIP Special Report released last month, “The Politics of Security Sector Reform in Egypt.”

Libya. Militia violence remains the biggest fear of Libyans, and many remain in operation with no criteria yet for disbanding and disarming them, said Manal Omar, director of USIP’s Iraq, Iran and North Africa programs. The militias have asserted control over private properties in some cases, producing additional triggers of future conflict. The country’s General National Congress was not even able to provide for its own security recently, and yet officials will need to develop a way forward in the security sphere that provides protection for the public before disarmament of the militias can proceed successfully, she said. Building public trust in the security agencies “is going to take a lot of time,” she said, and quick, short-term fixes need to be avoided.


Related Publications

Five Factors Shaping the Future of Egypt-Israel Relations

Five Factors Shaping the Future of Egypt-Israel Relations

Thursday, June 13, 2024

The Gaza war has strained Egyptian-Israeli relations to an unprecedented level and raised questions about the future of their 1979 peace treaty that has been a cornerstone of Arab-Israeli peace. U.S. officials met recently in Cairo with their Israeli and Egyptian counterparts against a backdrop of mutually diminishing confidence between the two parties, particularly following Israel’s ground offensive in Rafah. This comes on the heels of a shooting incident between Israeli and Egyptian forces that left at least one Egyptian soldier dead, and Egypt joining South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Along with Qatar, Egypt is a key broker in the current Israel-Hamas cease-fire efforts and engages in extensive security cooperation with the U.S. and Israel.

Type: Question and Answer

Conflict Analysis & Prevention

Is China Eyeing a Second Military Base in Africa?

Is China Eyeing a Second Military Base in Africa?

Tuesday, January 30, 2024

For over three decades, every Chinese foreign minister’s first overseas trip of the year has been to Africa. This year continued the tradition with China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, visiting Egypt, Tunisia, Togo and Côte d'Ivoire. Notably, every one of these countries is coastal. And yet, at a time of continued speculation over China’s next military installation in Africa, none of these countries has featured prominently as potential locations in previous analyses. We might, therefore, reasonably ask what China’s current considerations are around basing in Africa. Faced with an increasingly multipolar and assertive Africa at a time of domestic economic challenge, however, China’s long-term strategy remains unclear.

Type: Analysis

Global Policy

Six Dilemmas Facing Egypt

Six Dilemmas Facing Egypt

Thursday, January 18, 2024

Since Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007, Egypt has been heavily involved in efforts to end the military confrontations and wars that have periodically broken out in Gaza. However, the scope, scale and stakes of the current war is unlike any prior round of hostilities. In response to the massacre and hostage-taking of mostly Israeli civilians by Hamas and other militant armed groups during their devastating attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Israel has launched one of the most destructive wars in its history. Indeed, this war will be transformational in numerous ways, with ramifications for several stakeholders beyond the parties themselves.

Type: Analysis

Conflict Analysis & PreventionGlobal Policy

How a Gaza Marine Deal Could Benefit Palestinians, Israelis and the Region

How a Gaza Marine Deal Could Benefit Palestinians, Israelis and the Region

Thursday, August 3, 2023

Amid today’s dismal Israeli-Palestinian context, positive developments have been in short supply. However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s June announcement of preliminary approval for the development of the Gaza Marine gas fields provided a rare glimpse of a potential win-win opportunity. For the Palestinians, it could provide a much-needed boost to their lagging economy and the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority (PA). On the Israeli side, it allows the Netanyahu government to claim it is assisting in improving living conditions in Gaza and could lead to less U.S. pressure on issues like settlement expansion. In the big picture, this is another example of how energy is increasingly becoming a focus for potential win-win agreements in the East Mediterranean.

Type: Analysis

Economics

View All Publications