ABSTRACT
The Great Arab Awakening of 2011, often referred to as the “Arab Spring”, engendered a debate about reform that had previously been unthinkable. Security Sector Reform (SSR) entered the reform agenda, and sensitive issues such as the powers and privileges of the army, the role of police and internal security forces, the functioning of the penitentiary system and the scope of military justice were all to be reconsidered (Tanner and Ould Mohamedou 2012). Before the uprisings, only a few organizations – like the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the Geneva-based Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) and the Arab Reform Initiative (ARI) – pointed to SSR as one of the main challenges for North Africa and the Middle East (Luethold 2004; Sayigh 2007). Nevertheless, its importance has become increasingly apparent.
