engaging fragile states - Woodrow Wilson International Center for ...

“
The priorities are as follows:
security, humanitarian assistance,
basic public services, economic
stabilization, political reform and
long term development.”
Ambassador James Dobbins
What Sequencing Has Worked in
Post-Conflict Rebuilding? 11
By far, the bulk of US and international attention is devoted to post-conflict situations.
The number of UN peacekeeping missions is at an all-time high. Ambassador
James Dobbins and his colleagues at the RAND Corporation studied twenty-two
past cases of post-conflict reconstruction in order to identify lessons learned, and
they have published their findings in a series of volumes, with one focusing on the
American experience. A certain prioritization of tasks in post-conflict environments
was found to achieve the most effective allocation of resources. The priorities
are as follows:
1 Security
2 Humanitarian assistance
3 Basic public services
4 Economic stabilization
5 Political reform
6 Long term development
This sequencing should not be understood as a strict ordering of tasks to do one
after another. Rather, it is a way to decide on the emphases that will achieve US
policy goals most cost-effectively, in view of the fact that resources are limited. 12
First is the issue of security. Without an assurance of basic security, the other
efforts on the list are likely to fail. Afghanistan illustrates why security must be established
before other things can happen. The United States is in the current situation
there partly due to the failure to recognize that having toppled the Taliban,
it was incumbent to provide for public security. Peacekeeping is essential. The
Responding to Fragile States: Lessons From Recent Experience | 45