Countries around the world still experience violent conflicts. In 2022 there were 56 instances of State-based violence, 83 instances of non-State violence and 45 instances of one-sided violence (UCPD, 2023).

 

It has been established that weak governance often contributes to state failure which contributes to conflict or civil war. It is also evident by recent European history that monopolization of state institutions and the use of force can lead to unwarranted and illegal internal conflict and/or foreign military invasion, which can disrupt normal livelihood of a country, affecting their economy, social foundation and governance.

 

The process of state reconstruction after the violent conflict (inter or intra state) is long and marred with challenges. As public administration is the bedrock for a functioning state, it is imperative to revisit how public administration can help create a foundation for a sustainable development of governance to stall or preclude violent conflict on the one hand and anticipate challenges and opportunities of post-conflict reconstruction when conflict was not avoided. At the same time, taking stock of decades of peacebuilding experiences, it is timely to revisit and compile some of the best practices to produce theoretical and practical approaches to the most pressing post-conflict situations in CEE region as well as globally.
Notably, PA literature on post-conflict reconstruction is centered around three wide-ranging topics: Security governance, Administrative-economic governance and political governance (Brinkerhoff et. al, 2007). There is also an important external aspect to post-conflict reconstruction throughout the history, which includes coordinated action for state-building and democracy promotion. EU’s conditionality and socialization has long been acknowledged as effective tools for democratization and progress, engendering more stable peace in Europe, while the United Nations has always relied on nation/state building as one of the pillars for its peacekeeping efforts.

 

Despite, granted the number of ongoing or frozen conflicts in the CEE area, and varying degrees of state capacity to tackle them, it is imperative to revisit and envision new ways of sharing best-practices in post-conflict reconstruction in terms of security, administrative and political capacity, as well as explore new, more effective avenues. All four broad dimensions - people’s protection, services to the people, legitimacy and external aid, of post-conflict reconstruction can be explored to reveal some of the lingering challenges as well as opportunities for post-conflict state-building and/or reconstruction.

 

Furthermore, advent of technologies and their widespread use in PA needs to be incorporated into new stealth polices in such broad areas where digitalization and or AI will have a significant impact, for example in such key areas for post-conflict reconstruction as jobs; decision-making and governance, especially such sectors as education, energy, defense and security, public relations, healthcare and job safety; and satisfaction and legitimacy. These are essential pillars of democratic societies and good public administration will be tightly interlinked with the effectiveness and progress in post-conflict public administration.
The 2024 NISPAcee Annual Conference can thus revisit and compile an evolving perspective on the role of Public Administration in post-conflict reconstruction.

 

Call for papers:
The call for papers will be open to all types of research papers relevant for the theme: conceptual, theoretical, comparative or case studies, policy and applied assessments. Conference will provide a forum for an open exchange of theoretical ideas, food for thought for the future, existing best practices etc. A special attention will be given to the NISPAcee region but the conference will aim at the same time to make linkages with experiences globally with a special emphasis on perspectives, lessons learned and leapfrogging opportunities for the use of technologies to improve the quality of public services in post-conflict situations.
The call for papers for the Main Conference Theme, NISPAcee Working Groups and Panels and the online application with paper proposals will be opened by the end of September 2023.