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The Prospects for Security Sector Reform in Tunisia: a Year After the Revolution

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The Prospects for Security Sector Reform in Tunisia: a Year After the Revolution Visit our website for other free publication downloads http://www.StrategicStudiesInstitute.army.mil/ To rate this publication click here. STRATEGIC STUDIES INSTITUTE The Strategic Studies Institute (SSI) is part of the U.S. Army War College and is the strategic-level study agent for issues related to national security and military strategy with emphasis on geostrate- gic analysis. The mission of SSI is to use independent analysis to conduct strategic studies that develop policy recommendations on: • Strategy, planning, and policy for joint and combined employment of military forces; • Regional strategic appraisals; • The nature of land warfare; • Matters affecting the Army’s future; • The concepts, philosophy, and theory of strategy; and • Other issues of importance to the leadership of the Army. Studies produced by civilian and military analysts concern topics having strategic implications for the Army, the Department of De- fense, and the larger national security community. In addition to its studies, SSI publishes special reports on topics of special or immediate interest. These include edited proceedings of conferences and topically-oriented roundtables, expanded trip re- ports, and quick-reaction responses to senior Army leaders. The Institute provides a valuable analytical capability within the Army to address strategic and other issues in support of Army par- ticipation in national security policy formulation. Strategic Studies Institute Monograph THE PROSPECTS FOR SECURITY SECTOR REFORM IN TUNISIA: A YEAR AFTER THE REVOLUTION Querine Hanlon September 2012 The views expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Nation- al Defense University, the United States Institute of Peace, the Department of the Army, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government. Authors of Strategic Studies Institute (SSI) publica- tions enjoy full academic freedom, provided they do not disclose classified information, jeopardize operations security, or mis- represent official U.S. policy. Such academic freedom empow- ers them to offer new and sometimes controversial perspectives in the interest of furthering debate on key issues. This report is cleared for public release; distribution is unlimited. ***** This publication is subject to Title 17, United States Code, Sec- tions 101 and 105. It is in the public domain and may not be copy- righted. ***** Comments pertaining to this report are invited and should be forwarded to: Director, Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College, 47 Ashburn Drive, Carlisle, PA 17013-5010. ***** All Strategic Studies Institute (SSI) publications may be downloaded free of charge from the SSI website. Hard copies of this report may also be obtained free of charge while supplies last by placing an order on the SSI website. SSI publications may be quoted or reprinted in part or in full with permission and appropriate credit given to the U.S. Army Strategic Stud- ies Institute, U.S. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, PA. Contact SSI by visiting our website at the following address: www.StrategicStudiesInstitute.army.mil. ***** The Strategic Studies Institute publishes a monthly e-mail newsletter to update the national security community on the re- search of our analysts, recent and forthcoming publications, and upcoming conferences sponsored by the Institute. Each newslet- ter also provides a strategic commentary by one of our research analysts. If you are interested in receiving this newsletter, please subscribe on the SSI website at www.StrategicStudiesInstitute. army.mil/newsletter/. ISBN 1-58487-538-0 ii FOREWORD The Arab Spring began in Tunisia. The tragic self- immolation of Mohammed Bouazizi in December 2010 struck a chord of discontent and frustration that ultimately propelled Tunisian President Zine El Abi- dine Ben Ali to step down barely a month later. The reverberations of this unprecedented series of events were felt throughout the region, and protestors took to the streets in Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Syria, and Yemen. A year later, Tunisia’s remarkable transi- tion continues to influence the region. Tunisia has achieved in 1 year what none of the other Arab Spring states have been able to accomplish. Some have suggested that Tunisia’s transition might even be a model for the Arab Spring countries. The Tunisian military’s refusal to fire on the demonstra- tors and its decision to eschew an overtly political role in the transition have left the task of creating a new political order in Tunisia to the civilian bureaucracy, nascent political parties, and civil society groups. In national elections widely heralded to be free and fair, Tunisians elected a caretaker government and a Na- tional Constituent Assembly charged with drafting a new constitution for Tunisia in 2012. In this monograph, Dr. Querine Hanlon of the National Defense University and the United States Institute of Peace finds that Tunisia is well poised to undertake serious security sector reform (SSR). SSR is a comprehensive tool for fixing the dysfunctional security sectors in fragile states emerging from con- flict, developing capacities to meet the human secu- rity needs of their populations, or transitioning from authoritarian rule. In many fragile states, the security institutions are themselves a major source of insecu- rity. Dr. Hanlon argues that transforming the security iii sector into one that is democratically accountable and functions in accordance with the rule of law is an im- portant step toward averting the recurrence of insecu- rity and conflict and preventing newly democratic or transitioning regimes from reverting to authoritarian rule. Although the prospects for SSR in Tunisia are per- haps better than in any other Middle East and North Africa (MENA) state following the Arab Spring, sub- stantial challenges remain. Dr. Hanlon argues that the raison d’être of Ben Ali’s security institutions was to protect the regime, not the population. The abuses of Tunisia’s internal security institutions and the impu- nity with which they acted against ordinary citizens served as a catalyst for the protests that ended Ben Ali’s rule. Reforming or otherwise dismantling this large and complex sector will be no easy task. The transition to democratic rule will require a fundamen- tal reorientation of the mandate and institutional cul- ture of the labyrinth of security institutions that con- stitute the Tunisian security sector. SSR will be critical for building trust in the government and its security institutions and central to the construct of a national narrative that undergirds a new social contract be- tween the people of Tunisia and its government. The Strategic Studies Institute is pleased to offer this monograph as part of the ongoing debate on the role of SSR in transforming the security sectors in the transitioning Arab Spring countries in accordance with democratic principles and the rule of law. DOUGLAS C. LOVELACE, JR. Director Strategic Studies Institute iv ABOUT THE AUTHOR QUERINE HANLON is the National Defense Uni- versity Senior Fellow at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP). Dr. Hanlon is currently on sabbatical from her appointment as Dean of Academic Affairs at the College of International Security Affairs, National Defense University (NDU). At USIP, Dr. Hanlon, with Dr. Richard Shultz of The Fletcher School, is conduct- ing a major research project entitled, “Designing Secu- rity Sector Reform for the 21st Century.” Dr. Hanlon is also working on security sector reform in North Africa and recently traveled to the region on a USIP engagement trip. At the National Defense University, Dr. Hanlon was instrumental in designing the Col- lege’s post-September 9, 2011-focused security stud- ies curriculum. During her tenure, she transformed the institution from a small University component to NDU’s newest degree-granting college, and negoti- ated, funded, and implemented NDU’s first satellite campus at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Cen- ter and School in Fort Bragg, NC. Dr. Hanlon also ex- panded the College’s International Counterterrorism Fellowship Program, a partnership capacity-building program into NDU’s largest international graduate program with over 400 graduates from 85 partner nations. Dr. Hanlon is Associate Professor at the Col- lege of International Security Affairs. Previously, Dr. Hanlon was also a nonresident Fellow at the National Strategy Information Center, participating in two key projects on “Adapting America’s Security Paradigm to a New Era: Conflict, Coalitions, and Capabilities in the Contemporary Security Environment” (2008-10) and “Teaching About Armed Groups and Irregular Warfare” (2006-08). v Dr. Hanlon’s recent publications include “Security Sector Reform in Tunisia: A Year After the Jasmine Revolution,” USIP Special Report No. 304 (March 2012); Adapting America’s Security Paradigm and Secu- rity Agenda (Washington, DC: National Strategy In- formation Center, 2011), with Roy Godson, Richard Shultz, and Samantha Ravich; “The Sources of Insta- bility in the 21st Century,” Strategic Studies Quarter- ly, Vol. 5, No. 2 (Summer 2011), with Richard Shultz, Roy Godson, and Samantha Ravich; The Three Images of Ethnic War (Praeger Security International, 2009); Armed Groups and Irregular Warfare: Adapting Profes- sional Military Education (Washington, DC: National Strategy Information Center, 2009) with Roy Godson and Richard H. Shultz, Jr.; and “Globalization and the Transformation of Armed Groups,”
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