Statebuilding, Security-Sector Reform, and the Rule of Law

Security-sector reform (SSR) and rule of law (ROL) approaches to international intervention have become a major element of the international community response to conflict since the 1990s. This international architecture that surrounds SSR and ROL privileges a particular form of knowledge that reflects a technocratic approach to security. This is reflected in the technocratic process of policy and also in the wider literature. Research into the literature itself shows that there are three core themes that dominate: state-centric approaches, technocratic approaches, and approaches to local ownership. These comprise a current, linear approach to SSR and ROL that ignores much of the critical literature on peacebuilding. Incorporating critical approaches could provide an alternative approach to SSR and ROL in terms of incorporating nonlinear underlying features, including a better understanding of institutional politics, an emphasis on process rather than structures, and analysis of the hidden politics of security and legal reform.