Rethinking Nation-Building

Ashraf Ghani and Clare Lockhart ask

What functions need to be performed by a state if it is to have internal legitimacy and external credibility?

We have proposed a framework of the 10 most critical functions the modern state must perform, which was endorsed by a group of leaders of post-conflict transitions last year. The functions include maintenance of a monopoly on the legitimate means of violence, the nurturing of human capital, and creation and regulation of the market. We have also proposed that state-building or sovereignty strategies be devised to meet the goal of having the state perform each of the 10 functions -- strategies backed by compacts between the leadership of countries and the international community on the one side and citizens on the other to create capable states that deliver value to their citizens. And instead of thousands of reports, there should be a single global report on state effectiveness, compiled with the involvement of global and local civil societies and issued by a credible international organization.