The changing dynamics of peace processes, geo-politics and multilateralism are affecting many conflicts around the world, their prevention or their resolution. While the mediation community has focused on the need for adaptation, there has been less of a focus on the consequences for statebuilding projects, in part because the rise of transactional deal-making focuses on security objectives such as ceasefires. Yet, behind the scenes, constitutional reform processes and statebuilding continue apace, often with the agenda of addressing intrastate conflict.

In December 2025, International IDEA and the University of Edinburgh, as part of the Peace and Conflict Resolution Evidence Platform (PeaceREP) organised the Twelfth Edinburgh Dialogue on Constitution Building in Fragile Settings on ‘the changing nature of mediation when negotiating political settlements in fragile settings’, bringing together  key actors from the fields of peace mediation and constitution building support. 

Following the 2025 Edinburgh Dialogue, a series of policy briefs were developed focusing on the evolution and current challenges of the statebuilding project within the context of fragmented conflicts and increasingly transactional approaches to peace mediation and peace building. Teresa Whitfield authors a piece that provides an overview of potential future scenarios in complex settings where state institutions may be fragmented and territories contested or where executive power may be consolidating, but where both national and international actors are seeking ways to build responsive, transparent and accountable institutions and processes. 

This brief, authored by Adem Abebe, focuses on South Sudan and outlines certain key reforms to ensure that planned elections do not worsen the intractable instability and economic malaise affecting the country. To reduce the risks, and potentially even lay the foundation for a transition towards stability, the brief recommends reforms to make governance more balanced, inclusive and accountable.