ABSTRACT
This brief overview of aid in post-conflict state-building concludes that a significant gap remains in donor approaches to the reform of public administration and finance in the aftermath of armed conflicts, despite the fact that control over economic resources is often one of the main causes of civil war violence. International assistance to institution-building in post-conflict states remains focused on economic liberalization and private forms of service delivery to the relative neglect of security sector reforms, contrary to the emphasis in peacebuilding policies on the demilitarization of politics. The result may be the formation of a state that is weak and patrimonial, prone to conflict or lacking legitimacy, central authority, or territorial control.
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