The crisis of liberal peacebuilding and the future of statebuilding

Abstract

The perception that liberal peacebuilding is in ideological decline has prompted some observers to argue that a reduction in the willingness of the world’s major governments and international organisations to engage in statebuilding will follow. It is argued that such arguments are misconceived because they locate statebuilding in the narrow context of peace operations. The nature of, and impetus for, contemporary statebuilding is only explicable when viewed against the backdrop of long-term historical processes emanating from the intervening states, leading to the emergence of regulatory forms of statehood and associated risk management rationalities. Statebuilding interventions further facilitate state transformation within both intervened and intervening states. The future of statebuilding is therefore the future of statehood. As the conditions that have given rise to statebuilding remain in place, it is likely to outlast the apparent decline of liberal peacebuilding.