The purpose of this issues note is to review the experience in and outside the World Bank of using different diagnostic tools in fragile state situations. It will identify trends in the use of such tools, lessons learnt, and arrive at suggestions for the future. Because governance has continued...

This paper critically examines key concepts that have been dominant in the internationaldevelopment community in the past twenty years. Starting with an analysis of the state in Africa,it shows how the international donors have ignored many of the underlying conditions that makeit weak and soft....