Publication

This paper looks at how to reconcile a state's security sector reform (SSR) priorities and its recurring security-related expenditures with its long-term resources. By presenting the lessons learned from the Security Sector Public Expenditure Review conducted by the UN and the World Bank in Liberia in 2012, the text's authors illustrate how a discussion on right-sizing the security sector can go hand in hand with one on right-financing, and thereby help prioritize key SSR reforms pragmatically. The authors provide further insights into how to help national authorities deal with the political economy of SSR, including its dilemmas.