PILPG Policy Planning, in collaboration with our Ukrainian friends and colleagues and legal and subject-matter experts, have developed a range of materials to assist Ukraine in considering, designing and operationalizing an effective plan for transitioning a highly militarized society, to a post-war nation, once the appropriate time is reached. Such efforts include guidance and analysis on the range of components of Security Sector Reform (SSR), including regularization of the military, transition of military personnel to civilian security forces, economic reconstruction, and the removal and disposal of weapons, among others. The materials produced include policy papers, legal memorandums, and expert interviews. Across them all, the documents consider Security Sector Reform (SSR) within the complex armed actor landscape in Ukraine, as well as expert insights into other contexts in which SSR and regularization of the military have been implemented.
The following webpage contains a range of guiding resources on planning and operationalizing a security sector reform process in Ukraine following the end of the conflict including:
Policy Planning White Paper Legal Memoranda Expert Interviews
PILPG brought together the best legal, military, and policy minds to assist Ukraine in planning for Security Sector Reform following the war. The PILPG Security Sector Reform Policy Planning Working Group, in collaboration with our friends and colleagues in Ukraine, engaged retired Generals, policymakers, and subject matter experts, to develop a range of materials on planning for a security sector reform process in Ukraine, culminating in a summary policy planning white paper. This expert working group is one in a series of Ukraine policy planning working groups within the PILPG Policy Planning Initiative. These working groups focus on providing practical guidance on specific conflict and post-conflict policy questions Ukraine is likely to face in the future.
PILPG is proud to announce the involvement of distinguished experts in the Policy Planning Security Sector Reform for Ukraine Working Group. These include Axel Addy, Former Minister of Commerce and Industry of Liberia (2013-2018), PILPG Senior Peace Fellow; Brigadier General Robert S. Cooley, Jr., US Army (Ret.), PILPG Senior Peace Fellow; Major General Darrell Guthrie, US Army (Ret.), PILPG Senior Peace Fellow; Drew Mann, Former U.S. Senior Foreign Service Officer, PILPG Strategic Adviser and Senior Peace Fellow; Ambassador Zorica Maric Djordjevic, Former Head of the Permanent Mission of Montenegro to the World Trade Organization and Special Representative of Montenegro to the UN Human Rights Council (2013-2015), PILPG Senior Legal Adviser; Robert Perito, Former U.S. Foreign Service Officer, Deputy Executive Director of the National Security Council, Head of the US Justice Department’s international police assistance program, and Director of the US Institute of Peace Center for Security Sector Governance, PILPG Senior Peace Fellow; Ambassador Donald Planty, Former US Ambassador to Guatemala (1996-1999), PILPG Senior Peace Fellow; Major General Hugh Van Roosen, U.S. Army (Ret.), UN Project Leader; and Ambassador Elayne Whyte, Former Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Costa Rica to the United Nations, Harvard Advanced Leadership Fellow 2022.
Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion in Ukraine, PILPG has been committed to providing expert guidance and support to Ukrainian beneficiaries in the areas of security sector reform, weapons management, and longer term demobilization, disarmament and reintegration planning. To aid in this effort, PILPG Policy Planning, in collaboration with our law firm partners, have produced legal memoranda that offer in-depth analysis and practical advice on a range of topics, including developing identifying incentives for the engagement of armed actors in a future disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) procedures.
This memorandum analyzes the various stakeholders involved in the Russian war in Ukraine, including the official Ukrainian Armed Forces, as well as the various quasi-independent units that have joined the Ukrainian cause, and pro-Russia separatists and militias that have been present in Ukraine since 2014 and have fought alongside the Russian military following the 2022 invasion. This memorandum goes on to provide suggestions for including these stakeholders in a post-war disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration process, focusing primarily on issues related to economic reconstruction, domestic security, and political reform.
PILPG held focused conversations with experts who have worked in various countries throughout their professional careers to gather best practices and lessons learned for security sector reform (SSR) processes for Ukraine. The experts shared their experiences and insights from working in and supporting SSR and DDR processes in a range of countries such as Guatemala, Afghanistan, Libya, Angola, Liberia, Bosnia, Iraq, and Somalia.
This case study is based on an interview held in December 2022 with Major General Hugh Van Roosen, who has had a distinguished career in the United States Army and has assisted the United Nations in various roles, including implementing the Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) process in conflict areas and implementing reforms within military units involved in the UN's peacekeeping efforts. He has deep experience in DDR processes, including in Liberia, where he served as the Force Chief of Staff for the United Nations Mission in Liberia. His experiences in Liberia and beyond highlights important reflections and best practices from DDR processes and lessons learned for Ukraine. This interview was conducted by Serge Holodny from Milbank LLP.
This case study is based on an interview held in December 2022 with Brigadier General Robert S. Cooley Jr., a PILPG Senior Peace Fellow, who recently retired as U.S. Army Reserve Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army Reserve Headquarters in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. As a Civil Affairs Officer, he led teams responsible for addressing infrastructure development, reconstruction, rule of law, and economic development in host countries, operating as the nexus between a host government and their military, and U.S. Government agencies including the U.S. Department of State, USAID, Department of Justice, and the U.S. Military. Brig. Gen. Cooley Jr. had teams in Ukraine and other Eastern European countries, and in Africa, they focused primarily on Eastern Africa, including DDR efforts in Somalia. He also previously served on assignments in Iraq and Afghanistan, and his experiences across these contexts provide valuable insights and lessons learned for post-war rebuilding processes, including potential takeaways for Ukraine. This interview was conducted by Julia Apostle from Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe.
This case study is based on an interview held in December 2022 with Robert Perito, a Senior Peace Fellow at PILPG who has been involved in post-war integration processes in various regions and states, including Angola, Haiti, Liberia, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya. He has extensive expertise in security sector reform and has provided policy guidance, program direction for peacekeeping operations, and post-conflict counsel in numerous countries and settings. Mr. Perito continues to advise the United States and other foreign governments on Security Sector Reform as Director of the Perito Group. In a discussion on his reflections of the DDR process across Afghanistan, Libya, Angola, Liberia, and Bosnia, Mr. Perito provides valuable insights and lessons learned that could be applied to the post-war rebuilding process in Ukraine. This interview was conducted by Maria Bun from Milbank LLP.
This case study is based on an interview held in November 2022 with Donald J. Planty, the former U.S. Ambassador to Guatemala and PILPG Senior Peace Fellow. Ambassador Planty was sworn in as the United States Ambassador to Guatemala on July 18, 1996. Amb. Planty played a key role in the negotiation and implementation of the "Agreement on a firm and lasting peace", signed in the National Palace of Guatemala City on December 29, 1996, which sealed the end of the 36-year Guatemalan internal armed conflict, started in 1960. The purpose of this case study is to learn from experience and to try to use the lessons learnt in tackling new challenges arising out of the present war in Ukraine, and specifically in drafting guidelines to the DDR process that will need to be put in place at the end of the conflict. This interview was conducted by Maria Costa from Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe.
This case study is based on an interview held in December 2022 with Axel Addy, a PILPG Senior Peace Fellow who has decades of experience in post-conflict reconstruction, including advising the National Transitional Government after conflicts in Liberia, serving as Liberia's former Minister of Commerce and Industry, and being the Chief Negotiator of Liberia's accession to the World Trade Organization. He received one of the highest national honors of distinction in Liberia, being inducted as a Grand Commander, Order of the Star of Africa, Grand Order of the Most Venerable Order of the Knighthood of the Pioneers. The knowledge gained from his involvement in various contexts offer valuable insights for the DDR processes post-wars, and may provide important lessons and practical applications for Ukraine. This interview was conducted by Maria Bun from Milbank LLP.
PILPG is grateful to have collaborated with our excellent law firm partners, including Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe; Milbank LLP, and others, on this work product.