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"Contrary to the common belief that peace and democracy go hand in hand after a civil war, Pereira Watts argues they are in fact at a crossroads. Offering an innovative framework, based on Philosophical, Actors and Tactical considerations, Pereira Watts identifies 14 dynamic dilemmas in democratic peacebuilding, with respective trade-offs. She focuses on explaining the contradictions in modern post-conflict recovery, the challenges facing interim governments, and the role of the international community. Based on an analysis of more than 40 countries between 1989 and 2022 and more than 60 UN Peace Operations, she presents key issues that commonly need to be addressed in such scenarios: Elections and Political Parties; The Constitution; Checks, Balances and Power-sharing; Transitional Justice; Human Rights, Amnesty, Truth Commissions and War Crimes Tribunals; Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration; and Media Reform and Civil Society. Solving any of these dilemmas leads to others that shape a complex apparatus for restoring peace and installing a new political regime. An essential resource for decision-takers, policymakers, international analysts and practitioners in the field of peacebuilding, that will also be of great value to students of International Relations and Peace Studies as well as anyone interested in peacekeeping, democracy building and state-building"--

Why are some war-torn countries able to make the transition to democracy? This paper intends to bring to light central dilemmas originating from the efforts of building peace and democracy in fragile states after war. We will focus on understanding the tensions and contradictions in post-conflict democratization, the challenges facing interim governments and the role of the international community. We will first analyze the set of structural and common dilemmas of peace-building and democratization in the aftermath of civil war, such as temporal, systemic, horizontal, and vertical dilemmas. The paper highly contributes theoretically to the body of knowledge by proposing a spiral of interrelated additional 8 dilemmas: security, safety, moral, sequencing, design, transparency, financial, and resources. Secondly, the different dilemmas will be addressed in relation to elections. Thirdly, constitutionalism is a sine qua non mechanism for establishing the new "social contract" based on the principles of democracy and the rule of law. Finally, the processes of democratization and peace-building are promoted by international actors who also face their own range of varying and even mutually contradictory dilemmas. In conclusion, from war to peace, democracy might prevail initially with a minimalist approach. But only if certain choices of elections procedures and constitutionalism design with specific separation of power and power sharing arrangements are foreseen towards sustainable peace. The paper has a multi-layered perspective that tries to fill the gaps between theory and practice on fragile states, civil wars, democratic governance and state institution building. By advancing theory and practice with policy-relevant results, the research hopes to facilitate more effective interventions and sustainable transitions from war to peace through democratic means.

"Contrary to the common belief that peace and democracy go hand in hand after a civil war, Pereira Watts argues they are in fact at a crossroads. Offering an innovative framework, based on Philosophical, Actors and Tactical considerations, Pereira Watts identifies 14 dynamic dilemmas in democratic peacebuilding, with respective trade-offs. She focuses on explaining the contradictions in modern post-conflict recovery, the challenges facing interim governments, and the role of the international community. Based on an analysis of more than 40 countries between 1989 and 2022 and more than 60 UN Peace Operations, she presents key issues that commonly need to be addressed in such scenarios: Elections and Political Parties; The Constitution; Checks, Balances and Power-sharing; Transitional Justice; Human Rights, Amnesty, Truth Commissions and War Crimes Tribunals; Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration; and Media Reform and Civil Society. Solving any of these dilemmas leads to others that shape a complex apparatus for restoring peace and installing a new political regime. An essential resource for decision-takers, policymakers, international analysts and practitioners in the field of peacebuilding, that will also be of great value to students of International Relations and Peace Studies as well as anyone interested in peacekeeping, democracy building and state-building"--