Diagnosing the Failings of Security Sector Reform in Afghanistan

Security sector reform (SSR) is often described as the lynchpin of the Afghan state building project and the exit strategy of the NATO military mission. Yet despite the investment of billions of dollars into this comprehensive process that aims to transform the security and justice architecture of the country, its achievements have been limited. This can be attributed generally to the unsuitability of the SSR model to succeed in conflictaffected settings and more specifically to the failure of donors to adequately adapt SSR principles and best practices to the complexities of the Afghan context. In many ways, the Afghan case demonstrates the urgent need for reform of the SSR model itself, which has shown an inability in Afghanistan and beyond to translate its ambitious reform principles into tangible change on the ground.