The web version of the Guiding Principles for Stabilization and Reconstruction (S&R) allows readers to experience the fully interconnected nature of S&R missions. Readers can search the text of the manual while also linking quickly from one section to another to access Linkages, Trade-offs, Gaps, Challenges, Resources and other points of connection.

The manual presents the first strategic “doctrine” ever produced for civilians engaged in peacebuilding missions. It is a practical roadmap for helping countries transition from violent conflict to peace. For decades, militaries have been equipped with doctrine that guides their decisions and actions. Civilian actors, however, still operate today without any unifying framework or shared set of principles to guide their actions in these complex environments.

The Guiding Principles seeks to fill this gap. Developed by the U.S. Institute of Peace and the U.S. Army Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute, the manual offers two important contributions: 1) a comprehensive set of shared principles and 2) a shared strategic framework. The “Strategic Framework for Stabilization and Reconstruction” is the cornerstone of the manual and is based on a validated construct of common End States, Cross-Cutting Principles, Necessary Conditions and Major Approaches.

Both the principles and strategic framework are built on the wealth of lessons that have emerged from across the peacebuilding community in past S&R missions.

Contents


Latest Publications

Beyond the Dayton Accords: Resolving Bosnia-Herzegovina’s Frozen Conflict

Beyond the Dayton Accords: Resolving Bosnia-Herzegovina’s Frozen Conflict

Wednesday, October 23, 2024

Looking out from the town hall in downtown Sarajevo, you’d be hard pressed to find evidence of the nearly four-year-long siege that devastated the city during the Bosnian War. The surrounding area is clean and filled with new and repaired buildings — even the town hall itself is a restoration of the pre-war library that once occupied the space. 

Type: Analysis

Democracy & GovernancePeace ProcessesReligion

Steve Hege on Restorative Justice and Colombia’s Search for Missing Persons

Steve Hege on Restorative Justice and Colombia’s Search for Missing Persons

Monday, October 21, 2024

More than 100,000 Colombians have been forcibly disappeared over the last six decades. Finding their remains is “tremendously healing” and can “repair the social fabric” by giving closure to the victims’ loved ones and allowing former armed actors “to regain their own dignity” by contributing to the process, says USIP’s Steve Hege.

Type: Podcast

In the Pacific, Aid Should Be About More than Competition with China

In the Pacific, Aid Should Be About More than Competition with China

Thursday, October 17, 2024

Outside powers often treat aid as an easy geopolitical win in the Pacific. However, Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) Minister for National Planning Sir Ano Pala’s recent public critique of Australian aid at Australia’s latest development plan launch in PNG punctured this perception. Pala’s statement should serve as a reminder that Pacific Island countries won’t be bought with aid packages in the tussle for geopolitical influence in the region, particularly those that do not align with Pacific priorities or build local capacities.

Type: Analysis

Global Policy

What’s Driving a Bigger BRICS and What Does it Mean for the U.S.?

What’s Driving a Bigger BRICS and What Does it Mean for the U.S.?

Thursday, October 17, 2024

Leaders from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) will gather in Kazan, Russia, next week for the group’s annual summit, along with an expanded roster of members. This is the first BRICS summit since Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE joined earlier this year. Russia, which holds the BRICS presidency this year, has also invited over two dozen other countries, which have expressed interest in joining the group, for the first “BRICS+” summit. For President Vladimir Putin, hosting this summit is an opportunity to show that Western efforts to isolate Moscow for its illegal war on Ukraine have not been successful and that Russia has friends around the globe.

Type: Analysis

Global Policy

India’s BRICS Balancing Act

India’s BRICS Balancing Act

Thursday, October 17, 2024

Leaders of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) will meet in Kazan, Russia from October 22-24 for the 16th BRICS Summit. BRICS will welcome its five new members (Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates), with at least 24 other prospective members joining the summit. As BRICS expands and looks to become a more influential player in world affairs, India faces the increasingly complicated task of continuing to deepen ties with the United States and play a leading role in Russian- and Chinese-dominant global forums, like BRICS.

Type: Question and Answer

Global Policy

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