PrintRobert M. Perito
Senior Program Officer, Center for Post-Conflict Peace and Stability Operations
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Efforts to create an effective interior ministry and a professional and communityoriented police force cannot succeed unless they are part of an overall effort for security sector reform. SSR, a relatively new concept, refers to the highly political and complex task of transforming the institutions and organizations responsible for dealing with security threats to the state and its citizens.
In 2009, Haiti has been the subject of an unprecedented diplomatic initiative led by the United Nations. In rapid succession, Haiti received visits from the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the UN Security Council, former President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and numerous senior delegations from Caribbean and South American countries
International actors in Security Sector Reform (SSR) are increasingly taking on roles as “advisors” to Ministries of Interior, Defense, and Justice. Rather than directly implement changes necessary for SSR, these advisors must persuasively articulate suggestions to their local counterparts. Advisors’ success depends on their ability to convey recommendations in a manner that makes change acceptable to their advisees.
Countries: Haiti
Robert M. Perito is a senior program officer in the Center for Post-Conflict Peace and Stability Operations. He is the coordinator of the Peacekeeping Lessons Learned Project and the Haiti Working Group. He came to USIP in 2001 as a senior fellow in the Jennings Randolph Fellowship program. Before joining the Institute, Perito was a Foreign Service officer with the U.S. Department of State, retiring with the rank of minister-counselor. He served as deputy executive secretary of the National Security Council (1988-1989). He was a congressional fellow in 1980. Perito received a Presidential Meritorious Service Award in 1990 for leading the U.S. delegation in the Angola peace talks.
Perito served as deputy director of the International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program at the U.S. Department of Justice, which trained police in international peace operations. He was a Peace Corps volunteer and served as a rural development officer in Nigeria.
Perito has taught at Princeton, American and George Mason universities. He holds a B.A. in international relations from Denver University and an M.A. in peace operations policy from George Mason University.
Multimedia
- "No End in Sight" (Robert Perito was interviewed in this documentary, which won an award at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival)
- Gangs of Iraq (PBS's Frontline, April 17, 2007)
- U.S. Experience with Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Afghanistan (October 2005)
- Security, Governance and Reconstruction: What Have We Learned in Iraq and Afghanistan? (April 2005)
- The Lone Ranger: America and Postconflict Stability Operations (February 2004)
- A New Afghanistan: Challenges of Governance and the Rule of Law (January 2004)
- "Truth, War and Consequences" (PBS's Frontline, September 5, 2003)
Publications:
- Haiti: Confronting the Gangs of Port-au-Prince
Special Report, September 2008 - Integrated Security Assistance: The 1207 Program
Special Report, July 2008 - Iraq's Interior Ministry: Frustrating Reform
USIPeace Briefing (May 2008) - Embedded Provincial Reconstruction Teams
USIPeace Briefing (March 2008) - Paper Versus Steel: Haiti's Challenge of Constitutional Reform
USIPeace Briefing (January 2008) - Guide for Participants in Peace, Stability and Relief Operations (editor) (USIP Press, 2007).
- U.S. Police in Peace and Stability Operations
Special Report (August 2007) - Haiti's Drug Problems
USIPeace Briefing (June 2007) - Haiti: Hope for the Future
Special Report (June 2007) - Options for Police in a U.S. Civilian Reserve Corps
USIPeace Briefing (May 2007) - Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Iraq
Special Report (March 2007) - Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Iraq
USIPeace Briefing (February 2007) - Reforming the Iraqi Interior Ministry, Police, and Facilities Protection Service
USIPeace Briefing (February 2007) - Can the Diaspora Solve Haiti's Enduring Social Conflict?
USIPeace Briefing (August 2006) - Haiti's Economic Challenge
USIPeace Briefing (July 2006) - Policing Iraq: Protecting Iraqis from Criminal Violence
USIPeace Briefing (June 2006) - Haiti's New Government Faces Historic Dilemmas
USIPeace Briefing (May 2006) - "Blind Spot: The United States and Post-Conflict Intervention," Georgetown University Journal of International Affairs (Vol. 6, No. 2, Summer-Fall, 2005).
- The U.S. Experience with Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Afghanistan: Lessons Identified
USIP Special Report 152 (October 2005). - The Coalition Provisional Authority's Experience with Public Security in Iraq
USIP Special Report 137 (April 2005). - Building Civilian Capacity for US Stability Operations: The Rule of Law Component
USIP Special Report 118 (April 2005). - Where is the Lone Ranger When We Need Him: America's Search for a Postconflict Stability Force (USIP Press, 2004).
- Establishing the Rule of Law in Afghanistan
USIP Special Report 117 (April 2004). - Establishing the Rule of Law in Iraq
USIP Special Report 104 (April 2003). - Enhancing International Civilian Police in Peace Operations
USIP Special Report 85 (April 2002). - The American Experience with Police in Peace Operations (Canadian Peacekeeping Press, 2002).
- "The New Relevance of Peace Operations: Ensuring Stability with Justice," Parameters (Vol. 32, No. 4, Winter, 2002-2003).
- "National Police Training Within an Executive Police Operation," Executive Policing: Enforcing the Law in Peace Operations, Renata Dwan, ed. (Oxford University Press, 2002).
- "The Role of International Police in Peace Operations," Analysis for Crisis Response and Societal Reconstruction, Alex Woodcock, ed. (Canadian Peacekeeping Press, 2001).
Available on usip.org:
- The U.S. Experience with Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Iraq and Afghanistan
Congressional Testimony, October 18, 2007 - Reforming the Iraqi Interior Ministry, Police and Facilities Protection Service
Congressional Testimony, March 28, 2007 - Learning from Iraq: Identifying the lessons is only half the job.
Peace Watch, April/May 2005 - Afghanistan's Constitution
Peace Watch, June 2004 - Establishing the Rule of Law in Afghanistan
Congressional Testimony, May 12, 2004
Events
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September 3, 2002
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February 22, 2006
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March 24, 2006
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