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Restoring Governance in Conflict-Affected Countries: Extending Hard Lessons Learned |
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The challenges of stability and reconstruction operations in fragile and post-conflict states have become a major focus of U.S. foreign policy today. Building good governance is both the linchpin and the puzzle to successfully restoring peace and stability in these settings, and moving towards a society that provides citizens with security, effective services, and legitimate institutions. Experts from RTI and the U.S. Institute of Peace assessed strategies and compared experiences in post-conflict governance restoration at a forum on May 11, 2009, at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. Their remarks focused on lessons learned and the implications for current foreign policy and for stability and reconstruction operations. See links to the full presentations below. MODERATOR RTI PANELISTS Ronald W. Johnson, PhD, RTI International, presented the governance restoration experience in Iraq, focusing on the evolution of the U.S strategy from strengthening central ministries to building capacity at the provincial level with positive results for the government's legitimacy with the people. Gary Bland, PhD, RTI International, discussed the experience and lessons of promoting decentralized, participatory governance as a means of achieving peace and democracy in Colombia, El Salvador, and Guatemala. Charles "Chuck" T. Call, PhD, U.S. Institute of Peace, presented the experience in rebuilding governance in Haiti, highlighting the tensions between capacity building and legitimacy and the need for a coherent international response. Return to
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