ABSTRACT
Legal and policy reform is often the focus of international attention, in part because it represents a relatively definable, contained and measurable development project, and in part because it is of particular importance to international capital. Struggles to build a state capable of managing large-scale business operations and their related conflicts are congruent with broader state-building experience. Beyond its track record of ineffectiveness, the state-building agenda often proves counterproductive to the goals of stability and development, particularly when it intersects with the entrenched commercial interests of a country’s elite. The gap is broad between the espoused purposes of liberal economic policy and institutions as supported by international state-building practice, and delivery on the promise of more inclusive development by national governments. States that emerge from fragility will exhibit greater legal and institutional capacity than they do today, including the ability to successfully regulate private-sector investment in ways that reduce harm, support stability and promote inclusive development.
