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ISE at the World Bank Fragility Forum

ISE co-hosted a high-level panel with the Brookings Institute and Club de Madrid at the start of the World Bank’s Fragility Forum 2018. Clare Lockhart joined DaniloTürk, Former President of Slovenia; Joyce Banda, Former President…

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Defragmentation: What Can Donors Do?

This is a follow-up note to the ISE Development Practice Note on the consequences of donor-induced fragmentation, which argued that the way development partners have managed their ODA spending and development programs has resulted in…

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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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Op-ed: Post-Maria, Puerto Rico has chance to reimagine its future

This article originally appeared in The Hill on November 2, 2017 By Clare Lockhart and David Thorpe Hurricane Maria left no corner of Puerto Rico untouched, meting out systematic destruction to the island and the lives…

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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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State Building in Conflict Affected and Fragile States: A Comparative Study; Technical Working Paper

This analysis provides a comparison of fiscal performance improvements over time for Afghanistan and Timor-Leste. It reviews changes in the quality of public financial management systems as revealed by Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA)…

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Digital Innovation, State Effectiveness, and Development

Our first event, “Digital Innovation, State Effectiveness, and Development,” was held January 5, 2017 at the Embassy of Australia, Washington, DC

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The Blight of Auction-Based Budgeting: What is it and how can we deal with it?

The pervasiveness of auction-based budgeting is a high-risk problem in aid dependent countries. Allocating a budget based on a willingness to pay is extremely dangerous. Selling off budgets to the highest bidder undermines the whole…

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The Absorptive Capacity Limit: The point where too much aid becomes bad aid

Absorptive capacity is not fixed – theoretically, it can be improved by successful reform. Absorptive capacity can change if the underlying drivers of absorptive capacity change. An increased capacity to absorb aid can occur for…

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Revocable Debt Relief: Transforming a Liability into a Contingent Liability

Some limited forms of debt forgiveness and assistance have been given to families, including through moratoriums on interest payments and arrangements for no or low-consequence on default. It has also been argued that government can…

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