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Building peace, states and hybrids

2 March 2010

The two decades since the end of the Cold War have witnessed greater involvement by international organisations in post-conflict peace- and statebuilding. This experience has generated many lessons, innovations and new ideas about what forms of intervention are most likely to succeed or fail.

In an article published in the Broker , the authors highlight the key issues of a contested field of debate including the relationship between international and local levels of action, the limits of the “liberal peace” paradigm, and the possibility of a “revisioning” approach to peacebuilding.

In particular, an emerging critique of top-down interventions focuses on their neglect of local political and social realities, and suggests that the notion of a “hybrid political order” can become a conceptual guide towards a more nuanced and capable approach. But more analysis and discussion is needed before the “hybrid” model can offer a way ahead in thought and practice about international intervention.

The full article in the Broker