States of Conflict: Lessons in conflict prevention and peacebuilding

Article

This briefing paper draws out some of the lessons learned about conflict prevention and peacebuilding through the work of IPPR's Commission on National Security in the 21st Century.

The report draws heavily on four published case study reports on conflict prevention and peacebuilding in Afghanistan, Kosovo, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia, as well as the findings presented in the Commission's interim and final reports.

It seeks to identify those lessons that will be most relevant to governments and international organisations, and argues that in spite of the difficulties there is still a compelling case for policymakers investing more political and financial capital in both conflict prevention and peacebuilding.

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