The paper examines the security sector reform in communist countries after 1988. It is a case study of the unfinished security reform of the secret police in Serbia.
It begins with the explanation of the term “secret police”; Regime security theory describes the link between the weak state and authoritarian regime; Authoritarian theory demonstrates how the secret police behave in those circumstances; The problem will be observed from the security sector perspective and security sector reform perspective; The security sector reform should clarify how implementation of the reform may lead to sustainable development of the society into a new climate of democratic change. Although not an easy task, because the official history of the secret police exists in fragments, and there is no free access for everyone to the files and archives, the historical facts will be presented in order to establish and define close relations between Yugoslav and Serbian secret police.