THE FUND FOR PEACE
Investing in Sustainable Security
An Introduction to The Fund for Peace
Copyright © 2011 The Fund for Peace This program description is proprietary to The Fund for Peace. All rights reserved. The Fund for Peace 1720 I Street NW 7th Floor Washington, D.C. 20006 T: +1 202 223 7940 F: +1 202 223 7947 www.fundforpeace.org The Fund for Peace Publication PD-11-07-FP (11-03G) Circulation: PUBLIC
www.fundforpeace.org 3 The Fund for Peace
About The Fund for Peace
We promote sustainable security through research,
training and education, engagement of civil society,
building bridges across diverse sectors, and developing
innovative technologies and tools for policy makers.
A leader in the conflict assessment and early warning
field, the Fund for Peace focuses on the problems of
weak and failing states. Our objective is to create
practical tools and approaches for conflict mitigation
that are useful to decision-makers.
What Makes Us Unique
• The Fund for Peace adopts a holistic approach to
the issues stemming from weak and failing states.
We work at both the grassroots level with civil
society actors and at policy levels with key
decision makers.
• The Fund for Peace has worked in over 50
countries with a wide range of partners in all
sectors: governments, international organizations,
the military, nongovernmental organiza-
tions, academics, journalists, civil society net-
works, and the private sector.
• Combining social science techniques with
information technology, we have produced the
patented Conflict Assessment System Tool (CAST),
a content analysis software product that provides a
conceptual framework and a data gathering
technique for measuring conflict risk.
• We produce The Failed States Index, an annual
ranking of 177 countries across 12 indicators, that
is published by Foreign Policy magazine.
Our Approach
The Fund for Peace offers a wide range of initiatives
focused on our central objective of promoting sustain-
able security, the ability of a state to solve its own
problems peacefully without an external military or
administrative presence. Our activities relate to three
interconnected themes:
• Transnational Threats
• Conflict Early Warning and Assessment
• Sustainable Development, Sustainable Security
T he Fund for Peace is an independent, nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) non-profit
research and educational organization that works to prevent violent
conflict and promote sustainable security.
cause conflict, ultimately resulting in sustainable
security for all.
Our programs fall into three primary thematic areas:
• Conflict Early Warning and Assessment
• Transnational Threats
• Sustainable Development, Sustainable Security
With a wide variety of current—and former—
programs, The Fund for Peace is able to leverage its
considerable experience in numerous fields of
expertise. Beyond our active programs, The Fund for
Peace has also focused on issues such as genocide
prevention, peacekeeping reform, small arms and light
weapons trafficking, the rule of law in transitioning
societies, and civil-military cooperation, and has
facilitated national dialogues and town hall meetings
on a range of pertinent foreign policy issues.
T he Fund for Peace boasts a broad portfolio of programs, experience and
expertise. Though diverse, all of our programs share a common
denominator of seeking to prevent war and alleviate the conditions that
www.fundforpeace.org 4 The Fund for Peace
An Overview of Our Programs
Transnational Threats
Sustainable Development, Sustainable Security
Conflict Early Warning and Assessment
• Threat Convergence
• Prevention of Identity-Based
Violence
• Identifying Hotspots for
Political Violence and Radicalization
• The Failed States Index
• Content Analysis
• Universal Network of Local
Knowledge (UNLocK)
• Military Training
• Peace and Stability
Operations
• Better Business for Better
Communities
• Human Rights & Business
Roundtable
• Voluntary Principles on
Security & Human Rights
• Private Security and Human
Rights
Fund for Peace staff have conducted conflict
assessments and field research, implemented projects,
engaged with civil society and established
comprehensive programs for the benefit of local
populations. This also means that as The Fund for
Peace takes on new projects, it is able to draw upon a
wealth of internal country-specific expertise, not to
mention our content analysis programs, which cover
every corner of the globe.
T he Fund for Peace has conducted programs in over 50 countries
throughout the Americas, Europe, Central Asia, East and South-East
Asia and Africa. From Timor to Tblisi, from Brazil to Bangkok, The
www.fundforpeace.org 5 The Fund for Peace
Where We Partner and Operate
institutions with whom we partner.
The Fund for Peace has extensive experience in
partnering with offices within international
organizations and governments. Some noteworthy
partnerships have included The Fund for Peace:
• producing country case studies and alert memos
for the United Nations Special Representative for
the Prevention of Genocide;
• assisting the World Bank to develop a set of Peace
and Stability Indicators to analyze progress on
Millennium Development Goals in the context of
fragile states;
• creating tools and training for assessing progress
in stability operations for the U.S. military;
• working with the African Union to develop a
comprehensive early warning mechanism for
anticipating violent conflict;
• partnering with NATO to reduce global stockpiles
of small arms and light weapons; and
• providing key data and analysis for USAID’s
Country Compass web site.
The Fund for Peace has also been highly active in
partnering with both corporations and the NGO
community in assessing and assisting with the
implementation of international frameworks, such as the
Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights.
T he Fund for Peace believes fundamentally in comprehensive stakeholder
engagement. This core value is reflected in the manner in which we
design our projects and the broad variety of organizations and
International Organizations Government Agencies
The Private Sector The NGO Community
www.fundforpeace.org 6 The Fund for Peace
Who Are Our Partners?
serious repercussions not only in that state itself, but
also on its neighbors and on states halfway across the
globe. Given these dynamics, it is of vital importance
that the international community understand the
conditions that create weak and failed states and be
prepared to help a state deal with those issues or take
the necessary actions to mitigate their effects.
The Failed States Index, produced by The Fund for
Peace, is a critical tool for highlighting not only the
normal pressures that all states experience, but also for
gauging when those pressures are pushing a state
towards the brink. The Failed States Index is an
important resource in fueling constructive discourse
and informing the actions and decisions of
governments, NGOs and civil society the world over.
The Failed States Index ranks 177 of the world’s
countries based on an analysis of risk and pressures.
The analysis is based on thousands of articles and
reports that are processed by our own software from
electronically available sources. The Failed States Index
W eak and failing states pose a serious threat to international security,
stability and prosperity. In today’s highly globalized society, the
actions of, or developments in, one weak or failed state can have
Alert Warning Sustainable Moderate
Failed States Index 2010
www.fundforpeace.org 7 The Fund for Peace
Conflict Early Warning and Assessment
The Failed States Index
spurs conversations, encourages debate, and most
importantly, helps guide strategies for sustainable
security.
Currently published annually by Foreign Policy
magazine, the Failed States Index is widely read by a
broad worldwide audience. Government leaders,
countless academics, NGO experts and journalists use
and refer to the Failed States Index because it is
empirically-based and has proven to be objective and
relevant. Perhaps the most telling barometer of its
credibility is the steady increase in the number of
governments that respond to it, by seeking ways to
improve their standing in the Failed States Index or
using it as a component in making decisions related to
foreign aid assistance.
The Failed States Index utilizes The Fund for Peace’s
proprietary Conflict Assessment Software Tool (CAST)
software platform. Based on comprehensive social
science methodology, the software triangulates data
from three primary sources and subjects them to
critical review to obtain final scores for the Failed States
Index. The strength of the Failed States Index is its
ability to distill those millions of pieces of information
into a form that is easily digestible and informative.
Conflict Early Warning and Assessment: The Failed States Index
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s
November 2010 presentation to Congress
of her strategic planning initiative for the
State Department included a slide drawn
from the Failed States Index.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates’
presentation of the Defense Department’s
“Quadrennial Defense Review” earlier in
2010 contained material based on the
Failed States Index.
In June, 2010, Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei,
former head of the IAEA and 2005 Nobel
Peace Prize Winner, said “Egypt's presence
near the top of The Failed States Index is
a disaster that demands the urgent
attention of the Egyptian people.”
In response to his country’s position in
the 2007 Failed States Index, Moldovan
Prime Minister Vasile Tarleve formed a
task force to study the causes for
Moldova’s scores.
Every year, Foreign Policy magazine publishes a list of
the worst 60 countries in the Failed States Index. The
special feature attracts some of Foreign Policy’s highest
readership figures and traffic to foreignpolicy.com. The
special feature also includes concurrent analysis from
leading experts
such as Paul Collier, Mo Ibrahim, Paul Wolfowitz,
Senator Benjamin Cardin, Robert Kaplan, Peter Galbraith
and General Roméo Dallaire.
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regional- and provincial-level analysis.
Along with the Failed States Index, The Fund for
Peace’s Conflict Assessment Software Tool (CAST) has
been the foundation of the Fund for Peace’s Country
Assessments Reports Service and Country Profiles
Program, using the content analysis to provide in-
depth assessments country-by-country.
CAST has been used to perform analysis at a sub-
regional level, from providing an assessment following
the floods in Pakistan’s Sindh province to
demonstrating how the situations in Mindanao in the
south of the Philippines and Luzon in the north can be
significantly different. Such regional-level analysis is
critical in properly understanding state instability. As
nations vary greatly from one another, often the
regions within countries will also vary greatly. A
country with a significant amount of instability in one
region may be perceived as itself unstable overall,
although the rest of the country is not experiencing
instability. Instances such as these may include
countries like Colombia (where although the FARC
insurgency continues deep in the jungles and along the
frontiers, the major cities such as Bogota, Medillin, Cali
and Cartagena enjoy relative calm) or the Philippines
(where the situation in the capital Manila is
significantly different to that experienced in the
southern island of Mindanao). This regional analysis
can not only further expand the understanding of a
country’s situation, but can also be used to highlight
precisely where the pressure points exist for a country,
and under precisely what conditions.
This analysis, coupled with regional contextualization,
provides a unique informational tool for policy-makers
to identify serious pressures and to enact sensible, well-
informed policies.
T he Failed States Index itself is just one of the many capabilities of The
Fund for Peace’s content analysis software. The software has many other
applications including specific risk assessment, and in-depth national-,
www.fundforpeace.org 9 The Fund for Peace
Conflict Early Warning and Assessment
Content Analysis
Below: Demographic pressures differentiated regionally throughout Pakistan, pre-flood (left) and post-flood (right).
Above: An analysis of various indicators applying to Sindh province, pre-flood (left) and post-flood (right)
Regional Analysis: Sindh Province, Pakistan
Sind
h
N.W
.F.
Punj
ab
Balochistan
Sind
h
N.W
.F.
Punj
ab
Balochistan
and the private sector are dated, uneven or
questionable. The most persistent shortcoming is the
absence of input from populations living in conflict
zones, whose perspectives are vital for accurate
analysis. To address this challenge, The Fund for Peace
has developed UNLocK, a project that links global
information technologies with local social networks for
the benefit of all stakeholders.
From 2007-2010, The Fund for Peace has been
conducting workshops in the conflict-affected countries
of Liberia, Uganda, and Nigeria, training local
participants in our Conflict Assessment System Tool
(CAST). They, in turn, train others at the community
level, including traditional leaders, local political
leaders, youths, women, school teachers, religious
leaders, and others. Data collected from the field by
participants are passed up the communications chain
to The Fund for Peace for analysis and shared on a
dedicated website for the network as a whole.
Aggregated data are made available in the form of
meaningful reports and graphical representations of
social, economic, and political pressures that can drive
conflict. Findings presented at both the community and
national levels warn of potential flashpoints and
advocate for responsible action by all stakeholders.
Working with local networks, The Fund for Peace
disseminates the findings, creates alerts, and offers
policy recommendations to protect civilians and
promote sustainable security.
The UNLocK project serves many purposes. First, it
provides local civil society as well as the international
community with a way to obtain more immediate early
warning and conflict prevention information. Second, it
is used to resolve disputes and build local capacity.
Third, it is useful for governments and external parties
as well as local civil society to identify priority issues at
the community level for resource allocation and
investment for economic and social development
projects in conflict-affected areas.
This top-down, bottom-up methodology for data
collection and analysis also strengthens
communications among civil society organizations in
different parts of the at-risk countries. Participating
organizations develop a big-picture view of the conflict
environment while learning practical ways to manage
conflict, utilize best practices, and adapt lessons
learned from others in similar situations. The UNLocK
project represents a unique approach to strengthen the
ability of all stakeholders to take appropriate steps to
protect civilians, achieve sustainable security, and
improve development.
O ne of the ever-present challenges in conflict early warning and post-
conflict reconstruction is obtaining relevant and reliable data. Too
often, data used by governments, NGOs, international organizations,
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Conflict Early Warning and Assessment
The UNLocK Project
bound by the rules of a system of states, new
international criminal and terrorist networks flourish in
the facilitative environments of weak and failing states,
cultural enclaves in strong states, and ungoverned
spaces. These networks of criminals and traffickers,
terrorists and radicals, and the volatile environments
that enable their activities, represent an entirely
different threat from that envisioned by the crafters of
today’s policies and institutions meant to secure and
safeguard weapons of mass destruction. The Fund for
Peace’s Threat Convergence program explores the
linkages among the three biggest threats to global
security: fragile states, the proliferation of WMD, and
terrorism. The Fund for Peace aims to:
• raise the profile of the challenges in vulnerable,
fragile and ungoverned regions on the
nonproliferation agenda;
• explore how these regions may serve as enabling
environments for nuclear terrorism;
• promote more coherent and strategic policy
approaches to prevent nuclear terrorism and illicit
nuclear trafficking; and
• become a hub for threat convergence-related
analysis.
To meet these objectives, Fund for Peace staff has
conducted field research and workshops throughout
the world, including the South Caucasus and Black Sea
region, Eastern Europe, the Tri-Border region of Latin
America, East and the Horn of Africa, and Southeast
Asia. A critical component of the our work centers on
T he proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), global
terrorism, and problems emanating from weak and failing states
constitute the main threats to global security in our time. No longer
www.fundforpeace.org 11 The Fund for Peace
Transnational Threats
Threat Convergence
engaging local actors in each region to develop action
plans for preventing nuclear terrorism using a broad
range of holistic and regionally-appropriate tools.
Through engaging local civil society groups, we hope
to raise awareness of the threats to both the
international and human security that weak and failed
states and WMD terrorism represent, and also shape
U.S. and international policy on the issue.
In addition to working to find solutions to
transnational threats posed by the confluence of weak
states, WMD proliferation and terrorism, the Fund for
Peace also works globally to explore ways in which
regional organizations and their member states can
better protect local populations caught in conflict
zones. Building upon the landmark, UN-endorsed,
document, The Responsibility to Protect, the Fund for
Peace has brought together hundreds of
representatives from regional and subregional
organizations, national governments, and civil society
in Africa, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and
Europe to examine the most critical ongoing and
potential conflicts confronting their regions and
develop concrete strategies to mitigate these conflicts.
To that end, the Fund for Peace has also worked closely
with regional and subregional organizations around
the world to develop and improve their capacities for
undertaking humanitarian interventions to protect
civilians caught in conflict. Our work included research
and advocacy on the development and deployment of
regional peacekeeping forces and the creation of
regional peacekeeping training centers. We have also
examined how U.S. military-to-military training
initiatives have impacted the capacity and performance
of other national militaries in peacekeeping operations,
specifically in respecting human rights.
Transnational Threats: Threat Convergence
www.fundforpeace.org 12 The Fund for Peace
economies beyond d i rec t employment
opportunities. When operating in tense social and
political environments, however, companies can easily
be seen as part of the problem instead of part of the
solution. To operate effectively in areas lacking strong
government institutions and a respect for the rule of
law, companies need partners.
We have spent more than a decade analyzing the best
practices and lessons learned from companies and their
partners through their efforts to increase a company’s
ability to operate with the highest standards despite
local obstacles.
Combining that experience, our extensive global
networks, and proprietary software based on our
conflict assessment framework (CAST), FfP has
developed a suite of tools to help companies operate in
the most sensitive environments. Our tools can assist
companies to navigate through complex situations. By
turning challenges into opportunities, companies can
become known as a good neighbor in the communities
where they operate and a preferred investor or
supplier.
FfP frequently supports companies in their
development of the following activities:
• Human Rights & Security Polices
• Conflict and Human Rights Assessments
• Community Relations and Stakeholder
Engagement
• Monitoring and Reporting Mechanisms
T he Fund for Peace has long recognized that companies are an essential
part of creating sustainable societies. Companies provide infrastructure
development beyond their immediate operations and support local
www.fundforpeace.org 13 The Fund for Peace
Sustainable Development, Sustainable Security
Better Business for Better Communities
There is no better protection for business and
communities than a strong relationship.
The work of The Fund for Peace places a heavy
emphasis on implementation. We aim to not only
pursue policy research and dialogue, but to also follow
through with implementation in the field.
Human Rights and
Business Roundtable
A sustained dialogue begun in 1997, the Roundtable
promotes understanding between actors operating in
conflict-prone environments to increase collaboration
to promote the rule of law and open societies. The
Roundtable model allows actors from different sectors
the opportunity to build the trust and relationships
needed for collaboration.
Today, the Roundtable focuses exclusively on the
extractive industry, although the lessons learned and
case studies of the Roundtable provide value to all
sectors. The Roundtable is an invaluable resource for
corporations, NGOs, governments and international
financial institutions to work together to promote
sustainable development.
Voluntary Principles on Security
and Human Rights
Initially conceived at a Fund for Peace Human Rights
& Business Roundtable meeting, the Fund for Peace is
an active participant in the Voluntary Principles on
Security & Human Rights.
Through partnerships, we support Voluntary
Principles implementation by companies. Working
with both oil/gas and mining companies, we have
helped draft human rights policies, created assessment
capabilities related to security and human rights,
undertaken conflict and human rights assessments, and
developed human rights and Voluntary Principles
training materials.
In Indonesia, working with local institutions we have
helped develop one of the most active national
working groups to encourage adoption of the
Voluntary Principles in Indonesia by companies and
the Indonesian government.
In 2010, we produced with our partner, International
Alert, a Guidance Note on Implementation of the VPs
at the National Level, which is being applied in
Indonesia, Iraq and D.R. Congo.
Health and Business Roundtable
With our partner Public Health Institute, we have
replicated the Roundtable model in Indonesia to
support partnership development to increase
availability of resources to improve health. Over 80
companies and NGOs have joined the Roundtable in
Indonesia.
Private Security and Human Rights
Private contractors are an important component of
various governments’ defense and foreign affairs
strategies. But the behavior of private security
personnel can also negatively affect local communities,
undermine nation-building and thus national security
goals. It is therefore important that a mechanism exists
for contractors to be properly accountable and
overseen.
The purpose of the Private Security and Human Rights
program is to promote better oversight and
accountability of private security contractors in
contingency operations. By engaging with government,
NGOs, the private sector, and local communities, the
program seeks to better facilitate understanding of and
adherence to the International Code of Conduct for
Private Security among all stakeholders.
Sustainable Development, Sustainable Security: Better Business for Better Communities
www.fundforpeace.org 14 The Fund for Peace
www.fundforpeace.org 15 The Fund for Peace
If you would like more information about how to support The Fund for Peace and invest in its mission to prevent
violent conflict and promote sustainable security, please contact our senior professional staff.
We also invite you to visit us online at www.fundforpeace.org.
A s a nonprofit educational and research organization, The Fund for Peace
relies on support from foundations, corporations, governments and
individuals for specific projects and its general operating budget.
Investing in Sustainable Security
Ken Brill PRESIDENT
T: +1 202 223 7947 ext. 207
Krista Hendry EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
T: +1 202 223 7947 ext. 212
Transnational Threats
Sustainable Development, Sustainable Security
Conflict Early Warning and Assessment
J. J. Messner SENIOR ASSOCIATE
T: +1 202 223 7947 ext. 206
Nate Haken SENIOR ASSOCIATE
T: +1 202 223 7947 ext. 221
Patricia Taft SENIOR ASSOCIATE
T: +1 202 223 7947 ext. 203
Krista Hendry EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
T: +1 202 223 7947 ext. 212
J. J. Messner SENIOR ASSOCIATE
T: +1 202 223 7947 ext. 206
Senior Programmatic Staff
Organizational Leadership
PD-11-07-FP
www.fundforpeace.org
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