Fund for Peace

Fund for Peace is an American nonprofit, nongovernmental research and educational organization established in 1957 by Randolph Compton. Compton created the institution in memory of his youngest son, John Parker Compton, who was killed during the Second World War. John Parker had written about the destructive effects of war and the need for societies to pursue alternatives to armed conflict, and those ideas influenced the organization’s founding purpose. The organization describes its mission in terms of preventing violent conflict and promoting sustainable security. Its work has connected conflict prevention, early warning, human rights, peacekeeping, development, and the security implications of fragile or poorly governed states. Rather than operating primarily as a humanitarian relief provider, Fund for Peace has historically emphasized research, policy analysis, field-based conflict assessment, convening, training, and engagement with governments, international organizations, civil society, and private companies. Its best-known initiative is the Fragile States Index, formerly called the Failed States Index. The index evaluates pressures affecting countries through social, economic, political, and security-related indicators. These include demographic and refugee pressures, uneven development, economic decline, institutional weakness, legitimacy problems, public services, human-rights conditions, and security concerns. The index began in 2005 with coverage of roughly 75 countries, expanded to 146 countries in 2006, and later reached 177 countries. In 2014, Fund for Peace changed the name from Failed States Index to Fragile States Index because it considered the term “failed” distracting from the index’s broader purpose of encouraging discussion about human security, governance, and livelihoods. The index combines quantitative and qualitative analysis and presents results through rankings, maps, trend assessments, and alert categories. Fund for Peace has also developed and used the Conflict Assessment System Tool, or CAST. Created in the 1990s, CAST is designed to identify and analyze conditions associated with potential conflict. It combines a conceptual framework, indicators, analytical methods, and trend-rating mechanisms. The organization has used conflict assessment and early-warning methods in countries affected by instability, while acknowledging the importance of contextual and human analysis in interpreting data. Through the UNLocK program, Fund for Peace linked information technology with local social networks in conflict-affected settings. Workshops in Liberia, Uganda, and Nigeria trained local participants to use CAST and gather community-level information. Field reports were analyzed for early signs of conflict and shared with relevant participants to support dispute resolution, prioritization of local concerns, and prevention efforts. Work in Nigeria included ground-level reporting on election-related risks such as ballot-box theft, vote buying, abduction, and violence, particularly in parts of the Niger Delta. The organization has also examined the convergence of fragile states, terrorism, weapons proliferation, and other transnational threats through the Center for the Study of Threat Convergence. This work has included research on nuclear terrorism, illicit nuclear trafficking, conventional-weapons proliferation, and security dynamics in regions including the Black Sea and South Caucasus, Latin America’s tri-border area, East and the Horn of Africa, and Southeast Asia. The center has worked with or alongside regional and international institutions, including NATO, the European Union, and the African Union. Fund for Peace’s business-facing activities address the relationship between corporate operations, security, community relations, and human rights. Its Human Rights and Business Roundtable, created in 1997, brought companies and human-rights organizations together to discuss international standards and the conduct of security forces around industrial operations. The organization has worked with companies in extractive industries, agribusiness, renewable energy, infrastructure, and oil and mining. Its Sustainable Development and Security work has included human-rights and security policies, conflict assessments, stakeholder engagement, community relations, monitoring, and reporting. Fund for Peace has also participated in the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights initiative. Additional work has covered genocide prevention, peace and stability operations, American foreign-policy debate, globalization and human rights, and regional approaches to peacekeeping. The organization has conducted research missions, convened public meetings and workshops, produced publications, and collaborated with universities, research institutes, foundations, international organizations, and government bodies. Its public profile is especially associated with the Fragile States Index, but its broader role is that of a conflict-prevention and security-policy institution combining research with field engagement.

Fund for Peace was founded in 1957 by Randolph Compton after the death of his youngest son, John Parker Compton, in the Second World War. John Parker had expressed ideas about the human costs of war and the importance of nonviolent conflict resolution. Compton established the organization around a broad set of ideals involving justice, peace, the environment, and human welfare. Over time, the organization developed from a general peace-oriented institution into a research and policy organization focused on conflict prevention, fragile states, early warning, human rights, and sustainable security. A central element of its method has been the attempt to combine structured indicators with field reporting and expert interpretation. The Conflict Assessment System Tool, developed in 1996, provided a framework for identifying and tracking conditions associated with potential conflict. Although such tools have been criticized for potentially overemphasizing numerical or technological analysis, Fund for Peace has presented CAST as one component of a broader analytical process requiring local knowledge and human judgment. The organization’s most visible public program began in 2005 with the Failed States Index. Initially covering about 75 countries, the assessment expanded to 146 countries in 2006 and eventually to 177 countries. It evaluates demographic, social, economic, political, and security pressures, including refugee movements, group grievances, uneven development, institutional legitimacy, public services, economic decline, human-rights conditions, and security-sector concerns. In 2014, the index was renamed the Fragile States Index. The change reflected Fund for Peace’s view that “failed” had become a distracting and overly definitive term, while “fragile” better supported discussion about degrees of vulnerability, human security, and the possibility of improvement. The index uses rankings, maps, trend analysis, and broad alert categories to communicate country conditions. Its methodology has also attracted criticism from observers who question the weighting of indicators and the limits of comparing complex political environments through a standardized framework. Fund for Peace expanded its field and community work through UNLocK, a program linking information technology with local social networks. In Liberia, Uganda, and Nigeria, local participants were trained to use conflict-assessment methods and report conditions from affected communities. The resulting information was intended to identify early warning signs, support local dispute resolution, and give stakeholders a more immediate view of risks than national-level data alone could provide. In Nigeria, the program documented election-related threats in the Niger Delta, including vote buying, ballot-box theft, abductions, and political violence. The organization has also worked on the relationship between fragile regions and transnational security threats. Its Center for the Study of Threat Convergence examined how weak governance, weapons proliferation, terrorism, and possible nuclear-security threats can reinforce one another. Research covered regions including the Black Sea and South Caucasus, the Latin American tri-border area, East Africa and the Horn of Africa, and Southeast Asia. The center’s work involved cooperation with regional and international bodies and sought to place fragile-state conditions more prominently in nonproliferation and counterterrorism discussions. Business and human-rights work became another important area. In 1997, Fund for Peace created the Human Rights and Business Roundtable to bring companies and human-rights organizations into dialogue about security practices around industrial operations. Its later Sustainable Development and Security work addressed corporate conduct in conflict zones and fragile states, including security policies, human-rights assessments, stakeholder engagement, community relations, and monitoring. The organization has worked across oil, mining, agribusiness, renewable energy, and infrastructure and has participated in the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights initiative. Other initiatives have included genocide prevention, peace and stability operations, human-rights education, and debates about U.S. foreign policy. The genocide-prevention work involved sharing research and warnings with institutions concerned with mass atrocities. The Peace and Stability Operations Project studied the capacity and political will of regional organizations to respond to internal conflict and supported dialogue among policymakers, scholars, journalists, and practitioners. In 2008 and 2009, the Use and Purpose of American Power initiative organized public forums in several U.S. states and continued discussion through an online conversation. Fund for Peace has also collaborated with universities, research organizations, foundations, international institutions, and regional bodies on peacekeeping and civilian-protection issues. In the present-day public understanding of the organization, the Fragile States Index remains its defining publication, while the broader institution continues to represent a blend of conflict analysis, early warning, policy education, human-rights engagement, and practical advice for stakeholders operating in unstable environments.

• 2014

  Failed States Index renamed

  [1]Fund for Peaceen.wikipedia.org

  The organization renamed the index the Fragile States Index to avoid allowing the term “failed” to overshadow the index’s human-security and policy objectives.

• 2007

  Partnership on regional peacekeeping dialogue

  [1]Fund for Peaceen.wikipedia.org

  Fund for Peace partnered with the Centre for International Governance Innovation for a multinational meeting on protecting civilians and strengthening international cooperation.

• 2006

  Index coverage expanded

  [1]Fund for Peaceen.wikipedia.org

  The Failed States Index expanded its assessment to 146 countries.

• 2005

  Failed States Index launched

  [1]Fund for Peaceen.wikipedia.org

  The first edition assessed roughly 75 countries using social, economic, political, and security indicators.

• 1997

  Human Rights and Business Roundtable created

  [1]Fund for Peaceen.wikipedia.org

  The organization established a forum connecting companies and human-rights organizations around security practices and international standards.

• 1996

  Conflict Assessment System Tool developed

  [1]Fund for Peaceen.wikipedia.org

  Fund for Peace developed CAST as a structured framework for locating and analyzing potential conflict in fragile or unstable states.

• 1957

  Fund for Peace founded

  [1]Fund for Peaceen.wikipedia.org

  Randolph Compton founded the organization in memory of his son John Parker Compton and in response to the destructive effects of war.

An independent conflict-prevention and policy-research institution that combines country-risk measurement, field-based early warning, human-rights analysis, and engagement with governments, international organizations, civil society, and business.

• Country risk and fragility index · 2005

  Fragile States Index

  Fund for Peace’s principal comparative research product assesses pressures that can undermine state stability and human security. It uses social, economic, political, and security indicators, supported by qualitative review and human analysis. Results are communicated through rankings, color-coded maps, trend assessments, and broad categories such as Alert, Warning, Moderate, and Sustainable. The index was launched in 2005 as the Failed States Index and renamed in 2014.

• Conflict-assessment methodology · 1996

  Conflict Assessment System Tool (CAST)

  CAST is a framework for identifying, organizing, and tracking indicators associated with potential conflict. It combines a conceptual model, quantitative and qualitative indicators, and a rating system for examining trends. Fund for Peace has used the tool in field and early-warning programs, while its application depends on contextual interpretation because conflicts differ substantially in their causes and local dynamics.

• Local conflict early-warning program

  UNLocK

  UNLocK connected information technologies with local social networks in conflict-affected countries. Participants in Liberia, Uganda, and Nigeria received training in conflict assessment and reported conditions from their communities. Fund for Peace analyzed the reports for early-warning signals and returned information to stakeholders to support dispute resolution, issue prioritization, and prevention efforts.

• Business human-rights and security advisory

  Sustainable Development and Security

  This program addresses the challenges companies face when operating in fragile or conflict-affected settings. Its work has included human-rights and security policies, conflict and human-rights assessments, community and stakeholder engagement, and monitoring and reporting mechanisms. It has served sectors such as oil, mining, agribusiness, renewable energy, and infrastructure.

• Transnational security research

  Center for the Study of Threat Convergence

  The center studied connections among fragile states, terrorism, weapons proliferation, and weapons-of-mass-destruction risks. Its research addressed nuclear terrorism, illicit nuclear trafficking, conventional-weapons proliferation, and regional security conditions. It conducted or supported research in several vulnerable regions and worked with international and regional organizations.

• 2009American Conversation

  United States

  An online discussion component extended conversations begun during the National Dialogue forums and encouraged continued public consideration of U.S. foreign policy and domestic economic conditions.

  Outcome. The initiative contributed to the organization’s broader public-dialogue effort and its final policy report.

  Source
• 2008National Dialogue forums

  United States

  As part of its Use and Purpose of American Power initiative, Fund for Peace organized traveling town-hall discussions with local partners including universities and chambers of commerce. The forums examined U.S. interests, economic security, foreign policy, governance, and the country’s role in the international system.

  Outcome. The discussions continued into 2009 and informed a final report on the role and limits of American power in the twenty-first century.

  Source

• 2014

  Rename the Failed States IndexStrategy

  Background

  The organization concluded that the phrase “failed states” had become controversial and could distract audiences from the index’s purpose of encouraging discussion about human security, improved governance, and livelihoods.

  Action taken

  Fund for Peace renamed the publication the Fragile States Index while retaining its comparative assessment of pressures affecting countries.

  Aftermath

  The new name placed greater emphasis on degrees of fragility and the possibility of policy improvement rather than a fixed judgment that a state had failed.

  Source

1. 1Fund for Peaceen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Fund for Peace official websiteglobal.fundforpeace.org