Publication

In this paper, the author explores the dilemmas of liberal intervention through the lenses of the Security Sector Reform (SSR) debate. It is within this policy sub-field that the troubled relationship between the security of the state and the security of the people becomes most evident. The author argues that the key question confronting SSR-actors, and the wider international peace - and state-building community, is whether a conventional state monopoly on violence is required to ensure democratic governance, rule of law and other liberal values, or whether other – hybrid or non-state – forms of security and justice provision may be more in tune with local realities and preferences and thus more legitimate and sustainable.