GPPi researchers call on EU and US to fix their statebuilding approach

GPPi’s Steffen Eckhard and Alexander Gaus argue that the United States and the European Union – the world’s largest foreign aid donors – should re-evaluate their ​“short-sighted” statebuilding approach. In an op-ed published on 5 February 2014 by Le Monde diplomatique, Eckhard and Gaus argue that the current US- and EU-led statebuilding approach needs as much fixing as the fragile states.

Following the violence in South Sudan and the sweeping disintegration of the Central African Republic, Eckhard and Gaus write that the EU and the US should heed four lessons-learned in Rwanda and Srebrenica, in Kosovo and East-Timor, and in Afghanistan and Iraq. Eckhard and Gaus argue that it is necessary for statebuilding activities to:

• address local power politics instead of abruptly halting engagement after democratic elections or a peace agreement;
• bridge social divides to limit malevolent elites from mobilizing well-known social groups and destroying fragile political bargains;
• focus on security sector governance beyond mere training exercises and equipment deliveries; and
• commit and stay long-term.

“Taking responsibility for state building means taking these lessons seriously,” argue Eckhard and Gaus in the op-ed. ​“Even though they are learned many times over, they are not consistently applied.”

If policymakers continue to ignore these four principles of state building, Eckhard and Gaus say, they will keep on deluding themselves, the public and the very fragile states they aim to fix.