ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the background and emergence of state building interventions in fragile contexts and sought to add some definitional clarity to these terms. It considers UK government's broad policy orientation towards state building and the central actors working and in fragile states. The breadth and depth of state building efforts has been unprecedented, the number and different types of actors involved has expanded rapidly. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Development Advisory Committee (DAC) now prioritise state building as the central objective of partnerships in fragile situations and the World Bank's 2011 World Development Report likewise emphasises the social capability for coping with stress embodied in legitimate institutions. Despite the White Paper under the Coalition government, there have however been official government policy developments in relation to issues of state building and fragility at Cabinet level in the form of the National Security Strategy (NSS), Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) and Building Stability Overseas Strategy (BSOS).
