Peacebuilding is a term widely cited as the objective of external assistance to fragile and/or conflict affected states as well as of civil society actors and political leaders in a broader range of countries. Widespread use applied to disparate countries and circumstances and by many different actors raises numerous core questions: What does peacebuilding mean, what does it entail, and who is involved? The course will begin with a discussion of basic debates on and dilemmas of peacebuilding, and then turn to a review of case studies. Each student will select a real case to examine through which the class will explore different approaches to peacebuilding, and take up issues such as ripeness, timing, and sequencing. Students will assess the relative success or failure of peacebuilding in their chosen case. As a class we will compare approaches taken in the selected cases and analyze why results varied. .