Fragile states are of major concern to actors spanning from local citizens to global policy makers. Not only are they particularly prone to violent conflict, they are also held responsible for a range of public bads transcending national borders. While ‘fragility’ is pervasive in donor and aid organizations’ thinking, the concept remains unclear and fuels the debate on how the international community should best respond. This course focuses on the conceptual, policy and implementation challenges of statebuilding in fragile and conflict-affected contexts.

In this course participants will:

• draw lessons from links between concepts of violent conflict, fragility, state- and peacebuilding
• understand the foundations of states and the construction of social and political legitimacy
• learn about international policy responses to fragile and conflict-affected contexts
• reflect on current methodologies proposed by international actors for working successfully in fragile contexts
• exchange experience and become part of a community of practice

Further information:swisspeace course Fragility, Conflict & Statebuilding