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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
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Studies produced by civilian and military analysts concern topics
having strategic implications for the Army, the Department of De-
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In addition to its studies, SSI publishes special reports on topics of
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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
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ers them to offer new and sometimes controversial perspectives
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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,” in Armed Groups:
Studies in National Security, Counterterrorism and Coun-
terinsurgency, Jeffrey Norwitz, ed. (Naval War College
Press, 2008). Dr. Hanlon is a graduate of the Edmund
A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown Uni-
versity, and holds an M.A.L.D. and Ph.D. from The
Fletcher School, Tufts University.
vi
SUMMARY
In the year since the revolution, Tunisia has
achieved what no other Arab Spring country has man-
aged: peaceful transition to democratic rule through
national elections widely viewed to be free and fair.
The legacy of the previous regime, however, remains:
a complete lack of transparency, no real parliamen-
tary or government oversight, and largely unchanged
rules of engagement and training. Tunisia’s internal
security services are feared by the population and
are themselves fearful of fulfilling their basic policing
tasks. The Tunisian Armed Forces clearly ascribe to
the concept of civilian oversight of the military. Al-
though they are currently fulfilling a number of in-
ternal security tasks, they have publicly stated their
intention to return to the barracks when the police can
resume responsibility for internal security. Security
sector reform (SSR) will be critical for building trust in
the new government and its security institutions. The
raison d’être of Ben Ali’s security institutions was to
protect the regime, not the population. SSR is essential
for reorienting the mandate and institutional culture
of Tunisia’s labyrinth of security institutions. Serious
reform of the security sector is essential if Tunisia’s
transition to democratic rule is to succeed in the long
term.
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