Author: Puthsodary Tat
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000113590
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 128
Book Description
Post-conflict societies are commonly constructed as weak, fragile, and failed states. Economic recovery, risks of renewed violent conflict, natural resource degradation, and poverty alleviation become prioritized agendas of donor countries and international institutions. Billions of dollars on development policy and governance reform have been invested. However, misapplication, ineffectiveness, and foreign aid dependency have become a controversial debate on "whose policy, whose governance, and whose outcomes." To understand the problems, the author employs a blend of social constructionism and discourse theory to establish a platform for understanding and discussing hegemonic aid conditionality on recipient governments. The theories also help analyze how the meanings of "post-conflict governance" are socially, economically, and politically constructed and used in state building, state apparatuses, institutional building, and policy-making process. He reveals that the philosophical and theoretical knowledge that underlies the interface between the mode of governance and policy design create the consensus of values, norms and indicators between experts, public servants, donors and communities in post-conflict settings. The author also shares illuminating case studies by way of his considerable wealth of experience leading reconstructive efforts in Afghanistan and Cambodia.
Policy and Governance in Post-Conflict Settings
Author: Puthsodary Tat
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000113590
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 128
Book Description
Post-conflict societies are commonly constructed as weak, fragile, and failed states. Economic recovery, risks of renewed violent conflict, natural resource degradation, and poverty alleviation become prioritized agendas of donor countries and international institutions. Billions of dollars on development policy and governance reform have been invested. However, misapplication, ineffectiveness, and foreign aid dependency have become a controversial debate on "whose policy, whose governance, and whose outcomes." To understand the problems, the author employs a blend of social constructionism and discourse theory to establish a platform for understanding and discussing hegemonic aid conditionality on recipient governments. The theories also help analyze how the meanings of "post-conflict governance" are socially, economically, and politically constructed and used in state building, state apparatuses, institutional building, and policy-making process. He reveals that the philosophical and theoretical knowledge that underlies the interface between the mode of governance and policy design create the consensus of values, norms and indicators between experts, public servants, donors and communities in post-conflict settings. The author also shares illuminating case studies by way of his considerable wealth of experience leading reconstructive efforts in Afghanistan and Cambodia.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000113590
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 128
Book Description
Post-conflict societies are commonly constructed as weak, fragile, and failed states. Economic recovery, risks of renewed violent conflict, natural resource degradation, and poverty alleviation become prioritized agendas of donor countries and international institutions. Billions of dollars on development policy and governance reform have been invested. However, misapplication, ineffectiveness, and foreign aid dependency have become a controversial debate on "whose policy, whose governance, and whose outcomes." To understand the problems, the author employs a blend of social constructionism and discourse theory to establish a platform for understanding and discussing hegemonic aid conditionality on recipient governments. The theories also help analyze how the meanings of "post-conflict governance" are socially, economically, and politically constructed and used in state building, state apparatuses, institutional building, and policy-making process. He reveals that the philosophical and theoretical knowledge that underlies the interface between the mode of governance and policy design create the consensus of values, norms and indicators between experts, public servants, donors and communities in post-conflict settings. The author also shares illuminating case studies by way of his considerable wealth of experience leading reconstructive efforts in Afghanistan and Cambodia.
Governance in Post-Conflict Societies
Author: Derick W. Brinkerhoff
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135983232
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 485
Book Description
Foreword Frederick D. Barton Preface Derick W. Brinkerhoff 1. Governance Challenges in Fragile States: Re-Establishing Security, Rebuilding Effectiveness, and Reconstituting Legitimacy Derick W. Brinkerhoff Part 1. Governance and Post-conflict: Perspectives on Core Issues 2. Does Nation Building Work? Reviewing the Record Arthur A. Goldsmith 3. Constitutional Design, Identity and Legitimacy in Post-Conflict Reconstruction Aliza Belman Inbal and Hanna Lerner 4. Election Systems and Political Parties in Post-Conflict and Fragile States Eric Bjornland, Glenn Cowan, and William Gallery 5. Democratic Governance and the Security Sector in Conflict-affected Countries Nicole Ball Part 2. Actors in Governance Reconstruction: Old, New, and Evolving Roles 6. From Bullets to Ballots: The U.S. Army Role in Stability and Reconstruction Operations Tammy S. Schultz and Susan Merrill 7. The Private Sector and Governance in Post-Conflict Societies Virginia Haufler 8. Rebuilding and Reforming Civil Services in Post-Conflict Societies Harry Blair 9. Contributions of Digital Diasporas to Governance Reconstruction in Fragile States: Potential and Promise Jennifer M. Brinkerhoff Part 3. Reforming and Rebuilding Governance: Focus on the Local 10. Decentralization, Local Governance, and Conflict Mitigation in Latin America Gary Bland 11. Subnationalism and Post-conflict Governance: Lessons from Africa Joshua B. Forrest 12. Subnational Administration and State Building: Lessons from Afghanistan Sarah Lister and Andrew Wilder About the Contributors Index
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135983232
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 485
Book Description
Foreword Frederick D. Barton Preface Derick W. Brinkerhoff 1. Governance Challenges in Fragile States: Re-Establishing Security, Rebuilding Effectiveness, and Reconstituting Legitimacy Derick W. Brinkerhoff Part 1. Governance and Post-conflict: Perspectives on Core Issues 2. Does Nation Building Work? Reviewing the Record Arthur A. Goldsmith 3. Constitutional Design, Identity and Legitimacy in Post-Conflict Reconstruction Aliza Belman Inbal and Hanna Lerner 4. Election Systems and Political Parties in Post-Conflict and Fragile States Eric Bjornland, Glenn Cowan, and William Gallery 5. Democratic Governance and the Security Sector in Conflict-affected Countries Nicole Ball Part 2. Actors in Governance Reconstruction: Old, New, and Evolving Roles 6. From Bullets to Ballots: The U.S. Army Role in Stability and Reconstruction Operations Tammy S. Schultz and Susan Merrill 7. The Private Sector and Governance in Post-Conflict Societies Virginia Haufler 8. Rebuilding and Reforming Civil Services in Post-Conflict Societies Harry Blair 9. Contributions of Digital Diasporas to Governance Reconstruction in Fragile States: Potential and Promise Jennifer M. Brinkerhoff Part 3. Reforming and Rebuilding Governance: Focus on the Local 10. Decentralization, Local Governance, and Conflict Mitigation in Latin America Gary Bland 11. Subnationalism and Post-conflict Governance: Lessons from Africa Joshua B. Forrest 12. Subnational Administration and State Building: Lessons from Afghanistan Sarah Lister and Andrew Wilder About the Contributors Index
Governance, Natural Resources and Post-Conflict Peacebuilding
Author: Carl Bruch
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1136272070
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 1159
Book Description
When the guns are silenced, those who have survived armed conflict need food, water, shelter, the means to earn a living, and the promise of safety and a return to civil order. Meeting these needs while sustaining peace requires more than simply having governmental structures in place; it requires good governance. Natural resources are essential to sustaining people and peace in post-conflict countries, but governance failures often jeopardize such efforts. This book examines the theory, practice, and often surprising realities of post-conflict governance, natural resource management, and peacebuilding in fifty conflict-affected countries and territories. It includes thirty-nine chapters written by more than seventy researchers, diplomats, military personnel, and practitioners from governmental, intergovernmental, and nongovernmental organizations. The book highlights the mutually reinforcing relationship between natural resource management and good governance. Natural resource management is crucial to rebuilding governance and the rule of law, combating corruption, improving transparency and accountability, engaging disenfranchised populations, and building confidence after conflict. At the same time, good governance is essential for ensuring that natural resource management can meet immediate needs for post-conflict stability and development, while simultaneously laying the foundation for a sustainable peace. Drawing on analyses of the close relationship between governance and natural resource management, the book explores lessons from past conflicts and ongoing reconstruction efforts; illustrates how those lessons may be applied to the formulation and implementation of more effective governance initiatives; and presents an emerging theoretical and practical framework for policy makers, researchers, practitioners, and students. Governance, Natural Resources, and Post-Conflict Peacebuilding is part of a global initiative to identify and analyze lessons in post-conflict peacebuilding and natural resource management. The project has generated six books of case studies and analyses, with contributions from practitioners, policy makers, and researchers. Other books in this series address high-value resources, land, water, livelihoods, and assessing and restoring natural resources.
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1136272070
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 1159
Book Description
When the guns are silenced, those who have survived armed conflict need food, water, shelter, the means to earn a living, and the promise of safety and a return to civil order. Meeting these needs while sustaining peace requires more than simply having governmental structures in place; it requires good governance. Natural resources are essential to sustaining people and peace in post-conflict countries, but governance failures often jeopardize such efforts. This book examines the theory, practice, and often surprising realities of post-conflict governance, natural resource management, and peacebuilding in fifty conflict-affected countries and territories. It includes thirty-nine chapters written by more than seventy researchers, diplomats, military personnel, and practitioners from governmental, intergovernmental, and nongovernmental organizations. The book highlights the mutually reinforcing relationship between natural resource management and good governance. Natural resource management is crucial to rebuilding governance and the rule of law, combating corruption, improving transparency and accountability, engaging disenfranchised populations, and building confidence after conflict. At the same time, good governance is essential for ensuring that natural resource management can meet immediate needs for post-conflict stability and development, while simultaneously laying the foundation for a sustainable peace. Drawing on analyses of the close relationship between governance and natural resource management, the book explores lessons from past conflicts and ongoing reconstruction efforts; illustrates how those lessons may be applied to the formulation and implementation of more effective governance initiatives; and presents an emerging theoretical and practical framework for policy makers, researchers, practitioners, and students. Governance, Natural Resources, and Post-Conflict Peacebuilding is part of a global initiative to identify and analyze lessons in post-conflict peacebuilding and natural resource management. The project has generated six books of case studies and analyses, with contributions from practitioners, policy makers, and researchers. Other books in this series address high-value resources, land, water, livelihoods, and assessing and restoring natural resources.
Water and Post-Conflict Peacebuilding
Author: Erika Weinthal
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136536566
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 544
Book Description
As a basic human need, the provision of safe water is among the highest priorities of government and humanitarian interventions during post-conflict recovery and peacebuilding. In the aftermath of war, water, sanitation, and infrastructure play a critical role in the recovery of livelihoods and economic development. Moreover, shared waters have great potential for interstate cooperation, assisting to rebuild trust following conflict and to prevent a return to conflict. This volume draws on studies from around the world to create a framework for understanding how water resources decisions and activities can facilitate or undermine peacebuilding in a post-conflict setting.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136536566
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 544
Book Description
As a basic human need, the provision of safe water is among the highest priorities of government and humanitarian interventions during post-conflict recovery and peacebuilding. In the aftermath of war, water, sanitation, and infrastructure play a critical role in the recovery of livelihoods and economic development. Moreover, shared waters have great potential for interstate cooperation, assisting to rebuild trust following conflict and to prevent a return to conflict. This volume draws on studies from around the world to create a framework for understanding how water resources decisions and activities can facilitate or undermine peacebuilding in a post-conflict setting.
Aid, Policy, and Growth in Post-conflict Societies
Author: Paul Collier
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN:
Category : Civil war
Languages : en
Pages : 32
Book Description
Countries emerging from civil war attract both aid and policy advice. This paper provides the first systematic empirical analysis of aid and policy reform in the post-conflict growth process. It is based on a comprehensive data set of large civil wars and covers 27 countries that were in their first decade of post-conflict economic recovery during the 1990s. The authors first investigate whether the absorptive capacity for aid is systematically different in post-conflict countries. They find that during the first three post-conflict years, absorptive capacity is no greater than normal, but that in the rest of the first decade it is approximately double its normal level. So ideally, aid should phase in during the decade. Historically, aid has not, on average, been higher in post-conflict societies, and it has tended to taper out over the course of the decade. The authors then investigate whether the contribution of policy to growth is systematically different in post-conflict countries, and in particular, whether particular components of policy are differentially important. For this they use the World Bank policy rating database. The authors find that growth is more sensitive to policy in post-conflict societies. Comparing the efficacy of different policies, they find that social policies are differentially important relative to macroeconomic policies. However, historically, this does not appear to have been how policy reform has been prioritized in post-conflict societies.
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN:
Category : Civil war
Languages : en
Pages : 32
Book Description
Countries emerging from civil war attract both aid and policy advice. This paper provides the first systematic empirical analysis of aid and policy reform in the post-conflict growth process. It is based on a comprehensive data set of large civil wars and covers 27 countries that were in their first decade of post-conflict economic recovery during the 1990s. The authors first investigate whether the absorptive capacity for aid is systematically different in post-conflict countries. They find that during the first three post-conflict years, absorptive capacity is no greater than normal, but that in the rest of the first decade it is approximately double its normal level. So ideally, aid should phase in during the decade. Historically, aid has not, on average, been higher in post-conflict societies, and it has tended to taper out over the course of the decade. The authors then investigate whether the contribution of policy to growth is systematically different in post-conflict countries, and in particular, whether particular components of policy are differentially important. For this they use the World Bank policy rating database. The authors find that growth is more sensitive to policy in post-conflict societies. Comparing the efficacy of different policies, they find that social policies are differentially important relative to macroeconomic policies. However, historically, this does not appear to have been how policy reform has been prioritized in post-conflict societies.
Research Handbook on Post-Conflict State Building
Author: Paul R. Williams
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 1788971647
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 493
Book Description
As a conflict ends and the parties begin working towards a durable peace, practitioners and peacebuilders are faced with the thrilling possibilities and challenges of building new or reformed political, security, judicial, social, and economic structures. This Handbook analyzes these elements of post-conflict state building through the lens of international law, which provides a framework through which the authors contextualize and examine the many facets of state building in relation to the legal norms, processes, and procedures that guide such efforts across the globe. The volume aims to provide not only an introduction to and explanation of prominent topics in state building, but also a perceptive analysis that augments ongoing conversations among researchers, lawyers, and advocates engaged in the field.
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 1788971647
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 493
Book Description
As a conflict ends and the parties begin working towards a durable peace, practitioners and peacebuilders are faced with the thrilling possibilities and challenges of building new or reformed political, security, judicial, social, and economic structures. This Handbook analyzes these elements of post-conflict state building through the lens of international law, which provides a framework through which the authors contextualize and examine the many facets of state building in relation to the legal norms, processes, and procedures that guide such efforts across the globe. The volume aims to provide not only an introduction to and explanation of prominent topics in state building, but also a perceptive analysis that augments ongoing conversations among researchers, lawyers, and advocates engaged in the field.
International Law and Post-Conflict Reconstruction Policy
Author: Matthew Saul
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317669916
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 355
Book Description
The trend for international engagement in post-conflict reconstruction has produced a host of best-practice postulates on topics such as local involvement in decision-making, accountability for past atrocities, sensitivity to context, and the construction of democratic institutions of governance. International law has potential relevance for many of these themes, yet the question of how the implementation of best-practice policy recommendations might be affected by international law remains under-examined. This book offers a fuller understanding of the role of international law in the practice of post-conflict reconstruction. It explores how international legal issues that arise in the post-conflict period relate to a number of strands of the policy debate, including government creation, constitution-making, gender policy, provision of security, justice for past atrocities, rule of law development, economic recovery, returning displaced persons, and responsibilities of international actors. The chapters of the book work to reveal the extent to which international law figures in the policy of internationally enabled post-conflict reconstruction across a range of sectors. They also highlight the scope for international law to be harnessed in a more effective manner from the perspective of the transition to peace and stability. The book lays out a basis for future policy making on post-conflict reconstruction; one that is informed about the international legal parameters, and more aware of how international law can be utilized to promote key objectives.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317669916
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 355
Book Description
The trend for international engagement in post-conflict reconstruction has produced a host of best-practice postulates on topics such as local involvement in decision-making, accountability for past atrocities, sensitivity to context, and the construction of democratic institutions of governance. International law has potential relevance for many of these themes, yet the question of how the implementation of best-practice policy recommendations might be affected by international law remains under-examined. This book offers a fuller understanding of the role of international law in the practice of post-conflict reconstruction. It explores how international legal issues that arise in the post-conflict period relate to a number of strands of the policy debate, including government creation, constitution-making, gender policy, provision of security, justice for past atrocities, rule of law development, economic recovery, returning displaced persons, and responsibilities of international actors. The chapters of the book work to reveal the extent to which international law figures in the policy of internationally enabled post-conflict reconstruction across a range of sectors. They also highlight the scope for international law to be harnessed in a more effective manner from the perspective of the transition to peace and stability. The book lays out a basis for future policy making on post-conflict reconstruction; one that is informed about the international legal parameters, and more aware of how international law can be utilized to promote key objectives.
The Peacebuilding Puzzle
Author: Naazneen Barma
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107169313
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 281
Book Description
Demonstrates how post-conflict elites interact with international peacebuilding interventions to construct hybrid political orders over time. This title is also available as Open Access.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107169313
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 281
Book Description
Demonstrates how post-conflict elites interact with international peacebuilding interventions to construct hybrid political orders over time. This title is also available as Open Access.
High-Value Natural Resources and Post-Conflict Peacebuilding
Author: Päivi Lujala
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136536698
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 624
Book Description
For most post-conflict countries, the transition to peace is daunting. In countries with high-value natural resources – including oil, gas, diamonds, other minerals, and timber –the stakes are unusually high and peacebuilding is especially challenging. Resource-rich post-conflict countries face both unique problems and opportunities. They enter peacebuilding with an advantage that distinguishes them from other war-torn societies: access to natural resources that can yield substantial revenues for alleviating poverty, compensating victims, creating jobs, and rebuilding the country and the economy. Evidence shows, however, that this opportunity is often wasted. Resource-rich countries do not have a better record in sustaining peace. In fact, resource-related conflicts are more likely to relapse. Focusing on the relationship between high-value natural resources and peacebuilding in post-conflict settings, this book identifies opportunities and strategies for converting resource revenues to a peaceful future. Its thirty chapters draw on the experiences of forty-one researchers and practitioners – as well as the broader literature – and cover a range of key issues, including resource extraction, revenue sharing and allocation, and institution building. The book provides a concise theoretical and practical framework that policy makers, researchers, practitioners, and students can use to understand and address the complex interplay between the management of high-value resources and peace. High-Value Natural Resources and Post-Conflict Peacebuilding is part of a global initiative led by the Environmental Law Institute (ELI), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the University of Tokyo, and McGill University to identify and analyze lessons in natural resource management and post-conflict peacebuilding. The project has generated six edited books of case studies and analyses, with contributions from practitioners, policy makers, and researchers. Other books in the series address land; water; livelihoods; assessing and restoring natural resources; and governance.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136536698
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 624
Book Description
For most post-conflict countries, the transition to peace is daunting. In countries with high-value natural resources – including oil, gas, diamonds, other minerals, and timber –the stakes are unusually high and peacebuilding is especially challenging. Resource-rich post-conflict countries face both unique problems and opportunities. They enter peacebuilding with an advantage that distinguishes them from other war-torn societies: access to natural resources that can yield substantial revenues for alleviating poverty, compensating victims, creating jobs, and rebuilding the country and the economy. Evidence shows, however, that this opportunity is often wasted. Resource-rich countries do not have a better record in sustaining peace. In fact, resource-related conflicts are more likely to relapse. Focusing on the relationship between high-value natural resources and peacebuilding in post-conflict settings, this book identifies opportunities and strategies for converting resource revenues to a peaceful future. Its thirty chapters draw on the experiences of forty-one researchers and practitioners – as well as the broader literature – and cover a range of key issues, including resource extraction, revenue sharing and allocation, and institution building. The book provides a concise theoretical and practical framework that policy makers, researchers, practitioners, and students can use to understand and address the complex interplay between the management of high-value resources and peace. High-Value Natural Resources and Post-Conflict Peacebuilding is part of a global initiative led by the Environmental Law Institute (ELI), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the University of Tokyo, and McGill University to identify and analyze lessons in natural resource management and post-conflict peacebuilding. The project has generated six edited books of case studies and analyses, with contributions from practitioners, policy makers, and researchers. Other books in the series address land; water; livelihoods; assessing and restoring natural resources; and governance.
Paths Between Peace and Public Service
Author: Jürgen René Blum
Publisher: Directions in Development
ISBN: 9781464810824
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Building a capable public service is fundamental to postconflict state building. Yet in postconflict settings, short-term pressures often conflict with this longer-term objective. To ensure peace and stabilize fragile coalitions, the imperative for political elites to hand out public jobs and better pay to constituents dominates merit. Donor-financed projects that rely on technical assistants and parallel structures, rather than on government systems, are often the primary vehicle for meeting pressing service delivery needs. What, then, is a workable approach to rebuilding public services postconflict? Paths between Peace and Public Service seeks to answer this question by comparing public service reform trajectories in five countries--Afghanistan, Liberia, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, and Timor-Leste--in the aftermath of conflict. The study seeks to explain these countries' different trajectories through process tracing and structured, focused methods of comparative analysis. To reconstruct reform trajectories, the report draws on more than 200 interviews conducted with government officials and other stakeholders, as well as administrative data. The study analyzes how reform trajectories are influenced by elite bargains and highlights their path dependency, shaped by preconflict legacies and the specifics of the conflict period. As the first systematic study on postconflict public service reforms, it identifies lessons for the future engagement of development partners in building public services. "Rebuilding the bureaucracy is possibly the most underappreciated policy and research question in fragile states today. This is one of the most politically astute and thoughtful books I've read on postconflict policy making of any kind." --Christopher Blattman, Ramalee E. Pearson Professor of Global Conflict Studies, Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts, Harris Public Policy, University of Chicago "Rebuilding states after conflict is the greatest challenge in development today. And yet we know precious little about the actual experience of countries that have tried to rebuild their civil service and restore public services. This is a monumental study based on extensive empirical data and field-based research across multiple cases that actually opens up the black box of state building in conflict-affected countries. It should be required reading for anyone who takes on this extraordinary challenge." --Joel S. Hellman, Dean, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University "There isn't a more pressing problem in international development than formulating practical strategies for building institutions in fragile states. This book is a remarkable distillation of the frontline experiences of the World Bank in tackling this task. Finally, we have the basis for an empirically grounded assessment of what works and why. Unputdownable." --James Robinson, Reverend Dr. Richard L. Pearson Professor of Global Conflict and University Professor; Institute Director, Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts, Harris Public Policy, University of Chicago
Publisher: Directions in Development
ISBN: 9781464810824
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Building a capable public service is fundamental to postconflict state building. Yet in postconflict settings, short-term pressures often conflict with this longer-term objective. To ensure peace and stabilize fragile coalitions, the imperative for political elites to hand out public jobs and better pay to constituents dominates merit. Donor-financed projects that rely on technical assistants and parallel structures, rather than on government systems, are often the primary vehicle for meeting pressing service delivery needs. What, then, is a workable approach to rebuilding public services postconflict? Paths between Peace and Public Service seeks to answer this question by comparing public service reform trajectories in five countries--Afghanistan, Liberia, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, and Timor-Leste--in the aftermath of conflict. The study seeks to explain these countries' different trajectories through process tracing and structured, focused methods of comparative analysis. To reconstruct reform trajectories, the report draws on more than 200 interviews conducted with government officials and other stakeholders, as well as administrative data. The study analyzes how reform trajectories are influenced by elite bargains and highlights their path dependency, shaped by preconflict legacies and the specifics of the conflict period. As the first systematic study on postconflict public service reforms, it identifies lessons for the future engagement of development partners in building public services. "Rebuilding the bureaucracy is possibly the most underappreciated policy and research question in fragile states today. This is one of the most politically astute and thoughtful books I've read on postconflict policy making of any kind." --Christopher Blattman, Ramalee E. Pearson Professor of Global Conflict Studies, Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts, Harris Public Policy, University of Chicago "Rebuilding states after conflict is the greatest challenge in development today. And yet we know precious little about the actual experience of countries that have tried to rebuild their civil service and restore public services. This is a monumental study based on extensive empirical data and field-based research across multiple cases that actually opens up the black box of state building in conflict-affected countries. It should be required reading for anyone who takes on this extraordinary challenge." --Joel S. Hellman, Dean, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University "There isn't a more pressing problem in international development than formulating practical strategies for building institutions in fragile states. This book is a remarkable distillation of the frontline experiences of the World Bank in tackling this task. Finally, we have the basis for an empirically grounded assessment of what works and why. Unputdownable." --James Robinson, Reverend Dr. Richard L. Pearson Professor of Global Conflict and University Professor; Institute Director, Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts, Harris Public Policy, University of Chicago