Fragility & Peace


Despite declines in interstate conflict, violence prompted by weak institutions, protracted grievances, broken social compacts, illicit transnational networks, and outside intervention have redefined notions of conflict and fragility. ISE seeks to unpack these new collective understandings, exploring features of conflict and violence and broader drivers such as climate change, poor social cohesion, and migration. We are supporting new and innovative perspectives on peacebuilding, informed by comprehensive analyses of modern peace processes.

Securing Stability Through Peace Agreements

The recent increase in the number of major global conflicts calls for a re-examination of how such violence can end and how peace can be sustained. Although peace agreements have a mixed historical success, their…

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State Function: Security
Insight & Analysis: Fragility & Peace
ISE at USIP Event: Ending Civil Wars: How Can We Succeed with Limited Opportunities?

As a part of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ ongoing project on Civil Wars, Violence and International Responses, the second volume of a special issue of the journal Dædalus was released in January 2018 to…

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Clare Lockhart and Homi Kharas - World Bank Fragility Forum 2018

ISE Director Clare Lockart and Brookings Interim Vice President & Director Homi Kharas are interviewed on the sidelines of the World Bank’s 2018 Fragility Forum.

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State Function: Governance, Security
Insight & Analysis: Development Partnerships, Fragility & Peace
Sovereignty Strategies

Read Clare Lockhart’s article ‘Sovereignty Strategies: Enhancing Core Governance Functions as a Postconflict & Conflict-Prevention Measure’ in the AAAS Special Issue of Daedalus.

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Issue Brief: Re-examining the Terms of Aid

The current terms of foreign assistance mean that it often falls short of the goal of supporting countries on their development paths. The New Deal for Engagement in Fragile States, endorsed in 2011, represents a…

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State Building in Conflict-Affected & Fragile States: A Comparative Study

In conflict-affected or fragile states there is often a significant gap between what the state is able to deliver and what the citizens of that state, as well as international partners, expect the state to…

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