Program on Crisis, Conflict, and Cooperation (C3)

The Program on Crisis, Conflict, and Cooperation (C3) is a leading source of analysis on societies affected by crisis and conflict and makes recommendations on cooperative strategies for crisis response and conflict management.

Instability, violence, conflict, disaster, and poverty are permanent features of the international landscape. Civilian and military leaders in the developed world are repeatedly called on to respond to complex crises, but the record of success is mixed and not, overall, encouraging. Outsiders rarely have the knowledge, skills, patience, or resources to transform conflict, reduce violence, and overcome fragility. In a time of economic crisis and declining budgets, many donors are seeking new approaches that are less costly for them, less disruptive to recipient societies, and more effective at sustaining positive outcomes and breaking dependency on foreign aid.

The Program on Crisis, Conflict, and Cooperation (C3) educates decisionmakers worldwide about complex issues at the intersection of conflict, crisis, development, and governance. Established in 2002 as the Post-Conflict Reconstruction (PCR) Project, today the C3 program:

MONITORS, evaluates, and advises on peace building, stabilization, development, and transition efforts
ANALYZES aid and investment plans for flawed assumptions about local feasibility and absorptive capacity
STUDIES private-sector activity in countries affected by conflict, violence, and fragility to increase investment and economic activity, minimize risk, and capture positive spillovers
ADVISES donors on improving delivery capacity, institutionalizing lessons and knowledge, and customizing aid to local conditions
COLLECTS and analyzes data on international responses to protests, coups, conflicts, and political transitions
RESEARCHES and maps statelets, hybrid governance, informal economies, non-Westphalian sovereignty, and other emerging crisis environments