Credible Commitment in Post-Conflict Recovery

How do countries recover from civil war? As the contributions in this volume attest, civil war is common and deadly. By one count, civil conflicts have killed nearly 20 million people since 1945 (World Bank 2006). Perversely, the social, political and economic damage inflicted during civil conflicts often persists or even worsens once hostilities end, in turn planting the seeds of future civil conflicts. Paul Collier and his co-authors (2003) describe this cycle as a ‘poverty-conflict trap’ and urge international donors to assist post-conflict countries in their economic reconstruction or risk further war. That logic suggests two related questions for post-conflict countries. First, what factors favor the deepening of peace after civil conflicts? Second, what political steps are needed to speed economic reconstruction and provide opportunities to impoverished citizens? Research seeking to answer these questions not only furthers our understanding of civil conflicts, but also provides valuable guidance to politicians, aid agencies, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in the shadow of violent conflicts