Geneva Centre for
Democratic Control of Armed Forces
United Nations Development Programme
Parliamentary Development Initiative in the Arab Region
SUMMARY WORKSHOP REPORT
The Role of the Parliament in the Development of a National Security Policy in
the Arab Region
Montreux, Switzerland
17-20 April 2007
Introduction
DCAF and the United Nations Development Programme Parliamentary Development Initiative in
the Arab Region, held a joint workshop on the role of parliament in the development of national
security policies in the Middle East and North Africa. Parliamentarians from Lebanon, Morocco
and Jordan, as well as Arab and international security experts attended the event in the Swiss town
of Montreux.
The workshop looked at national security policies as an overarching framework for
comprehensive security sector reform and explored the role Arab parliaments can play in this
process. While the workshop focused mainly on Lebanon, there were also discussions on the
need for national security policies in the Arab region, particularly in Morocco, Palestine and
Jordan.
The role of parliament in developing national security policy
Experts from DCAF presented a general introduction into the development of national security
policy and presented an overview of parliamentary best practice in this respect. They emphasized
the need for extended consultation and a broad involvement of various security sector actors. As
a national security policy articulates a vision of national security and steers a country’s action in
delivering security to its citizens, it should be developed in an inclusive manner; parliament and
civil society have an important role to play in this process, the speakers pointed out. They also
discussed the circumstances that had led to a national security policy debate in various national
contexts and asked why similar circumstances in the Arab region had hitherto triggered only little
interest for national security policy discussion. Referring to case studies distributed to participants
ahead of the workshop (including South Africa, Canada, Slovakia, and Romania ), the two
speakers provided background information on the political processes chosen by countries for
developing their national security policies and discussed associated benefits.
National Security Policy in action: The cases of Switzerland and Austria
The Deputy Secretary of State from the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and the
Director of the Austrian National Security Council Office presented the National Security Policies
of Switzerland and Austria, respectively. Their presentations provided practical examples of how
smaller countries managed early stakeholder involvement and time in national security policy
development. In the Austrian case, the speaker emphasised the strong role played by parliament in
both the elaboration and implementation of the national security policy. The Swiss speaker
highlighted the highly consensual and inclusive nature of the Swiss NSP formulation process,
characterised by the “three C’s” - compromise, consensus and consultation.
Consensus that Lebanon needs an national security policy
Extensive discussions on Lebanese security took place throughout the workshop. Whilst the
diverse range of participants differed in their conceptions of threats to Lebanese security, there
was a resounding consensus that Lebanon requires a national security policy. Many participants
voiced the desire to move beyond past problems and avoid the recurrence of civil conflict, as the
driving motivations for developing a national security policy. Lebanese participants suggested
that Lebanon should begin developing a national consensus of threat perceptions, as this would
allow a shared understanding of what type of security outcome Lebanon’s citizens seeks to avoid.
Gradually, the discussion could then move on to develop a consensus as to what is desired.
Lebanon’s current political crisis needs to be solved
Though participants agreed that Lebanon very urgently needs a National Security Policy, many of
them expressed the view that Lebanon’s current political crisis and some of the most pressing
issues should be solved first: Fostering legitimacy of both parliament and government was seen as
a major domestic challenge. According to the participants, other important challenges include the
proposed tribunal to investigate the murder of the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri
and the control of non-statutory forces on Lebanese territory.
Parliament must play a greater role in national security policy
Participants were unanimous in their assertions that Arab parliaments and in particular, the
Lebanese parliament plays an insufficient role in both the development and oversight of security
policy. It was pointed out that parliament has had only one debate on national security in the past
15 years and that its role had been reduced to that of a resource provider for the security services.
There were some practical suggestions as to how parliamentarians can redress this balance. The
best way to strengthen the parliamentary role, a participant suggested, would be by initiating and
taking a lead-role in the development of a national security policy.
The need for regional cooperation
Throughout the workshop it was consistently stated that national security policies cannot be
developed in isolation from the regional context of the Middle East. With this in mind, a number
of interventions called for greater regional security cooperation.
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Outcome: Consensus on the need for a public NSP with a strong role for parliament
A clear consensus was reached on the need for a public national security in Arab countries,
underpinned by a stronger and more effective role for parliaments in both the formulation and
implementation processes. Throughout the Montreux workshop, Arab parliamentarians
demonstrated a willingness to seize the initiative and continue, with the support of UNDP and
DCAF, the search for a national consensus on the elaboration of a national security policy. One
participant called for the convening of an enlarged workshop that would bring together
parliamentarians and experts from across the Middle East to discuss regional security and
examine its implications for the security policy of individual countries.
Follow-up: A commitment to further collaboration
The participants acknowledged the usefulness of the workshop and expressed a keen desire to
continue working with DCAF and UNDP through future activities. In an effort to build on the
recommendations of this workshop and in light of the conclusions reached in the regional
workshop organized in Beirut in 2006, both UNDP and DCAF committed to providing the
necessary support so that this regional debate on security sector governance and the role of
parliament can continue in the Arab region, and eventually result in a consolidated group of MPs,
experts and practitioners capable of initiating reform.
Acknowledgement
DCAF and UNDP wish to express their appreciation and gratitude to the Swiss Federal
Department of Foreign Affairs, which together with UNDP and DCAF, has co-funded this event.
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