ABSTRACT
On July 9, 2011, the Republic of South Sudan seceded from Sudan, becoming the world’s newest state. Hope for progress toward state formation and sustainable peace surrounded independence celebrations. The global peacebuilding architecture includes a very broad array of actors, organizations, and international norms. Unique regional conflicts and diverse local conflicts create variable operating conditions for peacebuilders that demand a broad set of tools. In international peacebuilding praxis, a dominant norm is that building states is essential for fostering resilience toward armed conflict. Building state resilience is a process that may occur from the “top-down,” and the “bottom up”. Multiple scholars are skeptical of the ability of external actors to adequately “unpack complexity.” Assessments of the primary interests that drive international actors to intervene in conflict-affected countries leave many analysts skeptical of the “liberal peacebuilding” enterprise. Critics draw attention to power, interests, and ethical dilemmas at work in modern peacebuilding operations.
