Peace and the Public Purse

Description: In the aftermath of violent conflict, how do the economic challenges of statebuilding intersect with the political challenges of peacebuilding? How can the international community help lay the fiscal foundations for a sustainable state and a durable peace? Peace and the Public Purse examines these questions, lifting the curtain that often has separated economic policy from peace implementation.

Drawing on recent experiences in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Cambodia, Timor-Leste, Guatemala, Palestine, and Uganda, the authors bring to life a key dimension of how both peace and states are built.

Contents: Peace and the Public Purse: An Introduction???the Editors.

?? From Failed State to Good Performer?: The Case of Uganda???L. Ndikumana and J. Nannyonjo.

?? Aid, Public Finance, and Accountability: Cambodian Dilemmas???P. Smoke and R.R. Taliercio,Jr.

?? Building Fiscal Provisions into Peace Agreements: Cautionary Tales from Guatemala???P. Rodas-Martini.

?? National Ownership and International Trusteeship: The Case of Timor-Leste???E. Pires and M. Francino.

?? The Budget as the Lynchpin of the State: Lessons from Afghanistan???A. Ghani, C. Lockhart, N. Nehan, and B. Massoud.

?? Managing Public Resources: The Experience of the Palestinian "Proto-State"???R. Brynen.

?? Currency and Sovereignty: Why Monetary Policy Is Critical???W. Coats.

?? Postwar Debts: Time for a New Approach???P. Alvarez-Plata and T. Brueck.

?? Policy Implications: The Economics of Postwar Statebuilding???the Editors.

About the Editors: James K. Boyce is professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where he directs the program on peacebuilding at the Political Economy Research Institute. Madalene O?Donnell is on the staff of the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations. Previously, she coordinated the program on postwar statebuilding at New York University's Center on International Cooperation; and she has also worked on public-sector reform at the World Bank .

Target Audience: Students and academics of economics, policymakers working with fragile postconflict societies.