In the decades that I have been involved with the security sector around the world, I have come to the sad conclusion that, as a field of study, the governance and reform of the security sector expands, but does not develop. That is to say, we know no more now than we did twenty-five years ago, although the amount of activity (and financing) is much greater. We continue to make the same mistakes, most recently in countries like Guinea-Bissau and the DRC, and we are reluctant to learn from experience, because it teaches us unwelcome lessons. In the articles elsewhere on the site, I have tried to understand and explain why.

This makes me reluctant to offer too many links to organisations working on SSR, since the quality of work varies enormously, and is often based on normative criteria, rather than knowledge and experience.

However:

The Centre for Security Sector Management  at Cranfield University  in the UK (located at the UK Defence Academy) is practically involved with the security sector in different countries (I work with them) and has many valuable documents and resources on its site. They also publish the very valuable Journal of Security Sector Management.

The African  Security Sector Network, based in Accra, does much valuable practical work on the continent, as well as publishing a quarterly newsletter and other useful material. Their website is here.

The Southern African Defence and Security Management Network brings together a series of research and teaching institutes in the sub-region, and has been training government officials and others for many years. It is a trilingual network, open to Portuguese and French speakers. Its website is here.

The Conflict, Security and Development Group is part of the Department of War Studies at King's College, London University. As well as a significant research programme, it is also involved in capacity enhancelment and training.

There is little writing about the security sector in the Arab World,  but most of what is worthwhile is published on the site of the Carnegie Middle East Centre.