Securing Sierra Leone: Defence, Diplomacy and Development in Action

On the evening of 21 May, the new book Securing Sierra Leone, 1997-2013: Defence, Diplomacy and Development in Action was launched at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London. Keith Biddle, OBE, former Inspector General of the Sierra Leone Police, and Mark White, Deputy Head of the Conflict Department, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, joined Peter Albrecht and Paul Jackson, authors of the book, in a discussion on security sector reform in Sierra Leone.

Covering 1997–2013, the speakers assessed all areas of reform of the country’s security architecture over this period, from the police to the armed forces and intelligence services. They reflected on the security challenges presented by the Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone, the ways in which UK-led security-sector reform prepared the country’s institutions to respond, and the extent to which the epidemic risks undermining progress made over the past fifteen years.