Consultations on Fragile States To Be Launched

With the generous support of the Ford Foundation, the Project on Leadership and Building State Capacity is launching a new initiative building on our Working Group on Preventing and Rebuilding Failed States.

The international community has recognized the need for greater coherence across its own diverse efforts in weak or failing states. This project will seek to bring methods of "track-two" diplomacy into inter-agency discussion through informal, non-binding consultations. In a series of facilitated workshops, participants drawn from the US government, the UN, the EU, regional organizations, and NGOs will assess selected countries' progress and needs and exchange lessons learned in order to foster strategic thinking tailored to specific country contexts. The project will be launched in the fall with a major policy research colloquium tentatively entitled, "What Have We Learned About Effective State-Building: Process and Strategy?" to review recent research and experience on conflict and state fragility.