Giving Compass' Take:

• Brookings notes that by 2030, 80 percent of the world's poorest people will live in the most volatile countries, but also emphasizes that steps can be taken to stabilize such fragile states.

• This is an examination of how countries can address political strife and build resilience, noting that the path out of fragility isn't easy and will require a global, collective effort.

• Here's why prioritizing education is so important.

The question of “what works” to help fragile countries out of decades of conflict, strife, and disaster has proven elusive. Despite global progress in poverty reduction, health, education, and the economy, fragile states are poised to be left behind by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the same way they were left behind by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The World Development Report on Governance and the Law (WDR) provides a reality check that today’s most peaceful and advanced economies, including Europe, were once inundated by war and violent contests of power. It notes these countries were in fact “fragile states for most of their historical trajectory.” The path out of fragility is long, winding, and not preordained.

The WDR notes that the world’s most advanced economies are more the product of avoiding or managing major crisis and conflict than of achieving periods of accelerated growth. Over long stretches of trial and error, they were able to establish resilient political settlements and institutions and the social norms and national identities for cooperation and constraint. The fundamental question is whether development partners can help fragile states to leapfrog decades of crisis, war, and destitution on a path to peaceful, just, and inclusive institutions and resilient political orders.

Read the full article about fragile states and the search for what works by George Ingram and Jonathan Papoulidis at Brookings.