State Building for Peace: a new paradigm for international engagement in post-conflict fragile states?

Abstract

This article is intended to analyse two leading approaches that have guided international efforts to promote peace and development in conflictafflicted fragile states since the 1990s, namely peace building and state building. In a relatively recent development a growing number of donors has sought to bring these two closer together, based upon the perception that the challenges posed by (post-)conflict fragile states need to be addressed through an approach that combines both-'state-building for peace', as the UNDP has put it. The article thus seeks to explore how the processes of building peace are related to the processes of building more resilient, effective and responsive states in (post-)conflict settings. It provides an overview of the evolution of these two concepts and analyses key complementarities between peace building and state building. It also explores the challenges that arise for both on the basis of these complementarities. The article goes on to examine some of the most significant tensions that arise between the two, and what these tensions may imply for the international assistance community. By way of a conclusion the article offers a few key lessons that emerge from the analysis for improved donor policy and practice in state building for peace efforts.Fragile states have emerged as a leading priority in current international development thinking and practice. While there is no firm consensus within the international community on exactly what constitutes a 'fragile' state or situation, there is general agreement on some key characteristics. These include a state's lack of authority or control over the whole of its territory and a lack of monopoly over the legitimate use of violence; persistently weak institutions and governance systems that often also lack legitimacy in the eyes of the population; and a fundamental lack of leadership, state capacity and/ or political will to fulfil essential state functions, especially in terms of providing basic services to the poor. A significant number of developing Alina Rocha Menocal in the Politics and Governance Programme at the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), 111 Westminster Bridge Road,

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