With the end of the Cold War, countries coming out of internal conflicts have embarked on a complex transition to peace. Violence must give way to public security. Political exclusion must cave in to the rule of law and participatory government. Former enemies must learn to live with each other and strive for national reconciliation. War-torn and mismanaged economies must reconstruct and provide a decent and licit living for their citizens. This book argues that because economic reconstruction takes place amid the constraints imposed by this multi-pronged transition, it is fundamentally differ ... More

With the end of the Cold War, countries coming out of internal conflicts have embarked on a complex transition to peace. Violence must give way to public security. Political exclusion must cave in to the rule of law and participatory government. Former enemies must learn to live with each other and strive for national reconciliation. War-torn and mismanaged economies must reconstruct and provide a decent and licit living for their citizens. This book argues that because economic reconstruction takes place amid the constraints imposed by this multi-pronged transition, it is fundamentally different from normal development. In fact, the book attributes failures ranging from Afghanistan to Iraq, from Kosovo to several in Africa, to the development as usual approach followed. Rather, effective reconstruction is a development-plus challenge in which — in addition to the normal challenge of socio-economic development — countries need to carry out demobilization, disarmament, and reintegration (DDR) of former combatants into productive activities and other peace-related activities, which often have serious financial implications and involve tough choices. Peace will not last in countries that fail to address these issues. In fact, post-conflict countries have a fifty percent chance of reverting to war. The purpose of the book is to present the basic premises, lessons, best practices, and policy guidelines necessary to design an effective strategy for post-conflict economic reconstruction. Unless jobs are created and the political and security objectives of peacetime prevail at all times, peace will be ephemeral. Keeping the present course does not seem a viable option.