Africa Center for Strategic Studies

Edited by Laurie Nathan. Department for International Development and the CRISIS States Research Centre, 2007. Reform processes often fall short when those undertaking them lack a sense of ownership and investment. Experiences from Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, and elsewhere reveal how donors can better assist security sector reformers to overcome political and organizational struggles and make SSR a national priority, enact necessary legislative provisions, and execute appropriate programs and projects. [PDF]

Challenges of Security Sector Governance in West Africa. By Alan Bryden, Boubacar N’Diaye and ’Funmi Olonisakin, eds. LIT Verlag, 2008. Efforts to reform the security services in West Africa face civil-military mistrust, vaguely defined missions, and misaligned structures, among other obstacles. This compendium assesses the configuration, operational efficiency, and civil oversight of the security sector in 16 West African countries finding noteworthy reforms and priorities for improvement. [HTML]

Right-financing Security Sector Reform. By Peter Middlebrook and Gordon Peake. Center on International Cooperation Political Economy Research Institute, 2008. Security sector reform requires more than just training and equipping a professional and well-structured military. Management, monitoring, and other administrative mechanisms are also key to constructing an efficient and responsible security service. Priority features of this reform entail fiscal, long-term, and regular assessment strategies as well as better donor coordination. [PDF]

Towards a Code of Conduct for Armed and Security Forces in Africa. By Adedeji Ebo. Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces, 2005. The author looks at the problems hindering the adoption and development of a normative, continent-wide code of conduct for African militaries, namely a "crisis of ownership" and a culture in the armed and security forces that is not more developmental and humanitarian. [HTML]

Security Sector Governance in Africa: A Handbook. By Nicole Ball and Kayode Fayemi. CDD, 2004. A major work addressing key actors in the security sector in Africa; the role and impact of democratic governance on the security sector; policy development and implementation in the security sector; financial management; regional actors and their impact on security sector governance; and challenges and opportunities in transforming the security sector.  [HTML]

Leadership and the Challenges of Command: The Ghana Military Experience. By Daniel Kwadjo Frimpong. Afram Publications (Ghana) Limited, 2003. Frimpong proposes ways to improve civil-military relations in Ghana, with implications for the general subject.