Local Level Challenges to Post-conflict Peacebuilding

Abstract

Laying the basis for a sustainable political order in the aftermath of civil war requires a broader perspective on the state than the one commonly taken by analysts and practitioners of peacekeeping and peacebuilding. In particular, it calls for closer attention to the building of state authority and capacity at local levels. While there is a growing literature on the political imperatives of building a lasting peace following negotiated termination of civil wars, for the most part research has focused on the construction of the central political institutions. However, negotiated peace settlements often face their greatest challenges at the local level, when the principles of the political settlement negotiated at the centre are extended throughout the national territory. This article reviews local level challenges to peacebuilding in the 1990s and urges an approach to peacebuilding informed by closer attention to the multiple layers of the state and the statebuilding process.