Transnational State-Building in Lebanon and Bosnia-Herzegovina: Strengthening or Shattering the Peace?

When civil wars end, political institutions are the main topics of conflict. The implementation of peace settlements often stall, and foreign sponsored initiatives might be put in place to build the state as to strengthen peace. This article aims to explain their impact. It proposes that post-conflict reconstruction follows a cycle, which alternates between phases of status quo, debate, and crisis. It argues this process is powered by the struggles between coalitions of political forces, including foreign parties, promoting their own understanding of the peace deal. It compares two cases of deeply divided societies located in a complex geopolitical environment: Lebanon and Bosnia-and-Herzegovina. The analysis focuses on the interrelations between foreign and domestic parties and their evolution by tracing the formation and collapse of transnational coalitions. It shows the major role these coalitions played in breaking the political deadlock and starting constitutional negotiations, but also in triggering a political crisis. The similarities between these otherwise unique cases highlight the limits set on foreign interventions, and explains how actors of the two environments interact. It concludes that if state-building initiatives under external influence can make significant gains, they leave the states highly vulnerable to political instability.