Publication

This paper recaps the security sector reforms that were unsuccessfully pursued in Yemen and Libya from 2011-2014. Indeed, the eventual collapse of the security sectors in both countries has put them in a bind – i.e., they each require a new consensus on the purpose and governance of their security sectors in order to rebuild effective states, but reaching this agreement will depend on resolving the deep social and political divisions that led to governmental collapse in the first place. The paper closes by ruminating on the lessons that should be learned from these sad tales.