Swaziland (Jul 29, 2010)
In the post-9/11 world, both the defense and development communities have focused heavily on the need to address “failed states.”  While the defense industry has focused on the threat of terrorism emerging from such areas, the development community has latched onto these efforts and intertwined its case for the importance of institution building to reduce poverty.  Recently, some academics have begun to question the use of the term “failed state.”  The term, they argue, is misleading, as it typically refers to areas that are being governed, just not governed in the way that West believes is optimal.   Louise Wiuff Moe at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs has published a report, which addresses this issue.  She argues that policymakers should develop strategies which do a better job of recognizing local forms of legitimacy.

External actors engaged in peace and state-building need to pay greater attention to contextual empirical conditions for sustainable political order and peace. Despite an increasing focus on state-society relations within the field of peace and state-building, there are many non-state actors and institutions that are currently left outside the dominating reconstruction discourse, even though they significantly influence, or have the potential to influence, state- and peace-building processes (positively as well as negatively). Greater awareness of ‘what is there’ can help prevent the situation where donors affiliate themselves with political elites and strongmen who are willing and able to mimic Western conceptions of ‘political order’, but who do not represent or promote the interests of the broader population. Additionally, a better understanding of the dynamics, politics and agency within so-called fragile settings can open the eyes of external actors to new alternative pathways for constructive change beyond the liberal institutional model.

Burundi (Jul 27, 2010)
Burundi’s ruling party won parliamentary elections held on Tuesday. Official results from the National Independent Electoral Commission (CENI) showed that President Pierre NKURUNZIZA’s CNDD-FDD party captured 81.19 percent of the votes in the parliamentary election. This was the third recent election in Burundi. On July 23, NKURUNZIZA won re-election without any opposition, as his opponents all boycotted the polls.

Central African Republic (Jul 27, 2010)
Presidential and Legislative elections in the Central African Republic will probably be delayed due to lack of funding, the election commission announced on Tuesday. This will mark the fourth time the polls, which were recently scheduled for October 24, have been postponed. The European Union mission in the Central African Republic announced that they would be willing to raise the initial money required, but only if the country finalizes an electoral timetable.

Solomon Islands (Jul 26, 2010)
Honiara, the capital city of the Solomon Islands, experienced rice shortages this week, which some suspect is due to parliamentary candidates shipping the staple food to rural areas of the country. According to the Solomon Star, candidates are attempting to lure voters to their rural constituencies so they can cast votes for parliamentary elections on August 4. The government has increased its police presence on the streets of Honiara in anticipation of the contest. Four years ago, residents of Honiara rioted after the parliamentary elections

Suriname (Jul 23, 2010)
Members of Parliament on Monday elected former military dictator and convicted drug smuggler Desi BOUTERSE as President of Suriname. BOUTERSE faces arrest in the Netherlands for drug charges and prosecution in Suriname for the execution of fifteen opponents during his military rule. BOUTERSE's Mega Combination coalition won the most seats in parliamentary elections in May, but it was unable to secure the two-thirds majority necessary to elect a President. During the vote in Parliament, however, BOUTERSE received support from the A Combinatie and the People's Alliance.