Fragile State - State Building and Peace Building

State Building and Peace Building

Whether or not to provide services in parallel is often framed as a debate between state building and peace building. State building is argued to lead to peace when it involves seeking to develop an inclusive state, where legitimacy is built as the result of the state responding to the demands of all of society and providing public goods and services. However, supporting the state in this direction is not a simple task, especially for the following reasons:

• State-building may not automatically lead to peace as it is an inherently political process and will not automatically be inclusive or democratic.
• Political settlements that seek to appease those that threaten peace can strengthen the rule of repressive rulers.
• Political settlements that create power sharing agreements can weaken the state and lead to further entrenching divides.
• Focussing on state institutions may lead to overlooking domestic non-state actors, including traditional local leaders, and prevent the long term of a civil society.

Equally, peace building efforts that do not include the state can undermine its ability to function. Researchers at the Overseas Development Institute emphasise the need for NGOs and other development actors to deepen knowledge of the context and maintain a constant awareness of the relationship between state- and peace-building.