Transitions: issues, challenges and solutions was hosted by the U.S. Army Peacekeeping & Stability Operations Institute (PKSOI) in November 2010. With the support of thirteen co-sponsors spanning government, academic, international and non-governmental sectors, the conference served as a vehicle to explore a broader and more common understanding of post-conflict and post-disaster transitions and their proper practice, creating a baseline for various communities to further expand understanding and practice of this important strategic concept.

"States and humanitarian organizations intervene in fragile, failing, and failed states at critical points to serve their own interests and to assist the populations of the troubled states. At the point when these host states have become appropriately self-sufficient, or when the interveners deem it appropriate to leave, the host nation must reassume responsibility for its own destiny. In simple terms transition is the multi-disciplinary process by which intervening and sponsoring states and organizations through enabling and empowerment return the power, authorities, and services to functional host nation government and civil society institutions. However, transition is never simple. It is always a complex strategic undertaking that involves and affects all sectors of a modern state. Because of these multi-order effects, all transitions invariably pose issues involving sovereignty, legitimacy, dependency, and social reform. In the latter case, transition is particularly difficult because intervention in these states usually initiates a transformation of the indigenous society to better fit the shared global narrative of the 21st Century world order. As these changes occur, politicians, citizens, spoilers, and opportunists of every stripe seek advantages in the circumstances and to influence the outcomes"--Summary, p. xi.

Introduction : understanding transitions / Harry R. Yarger -- Conceptualizing "transitions" / Jacqueline L. Chura-Beaver -- "Jus transitus" : towards an ethical baseline for transitions / Jeff Calvert -- The danger of optimism : building states from incoherent fragments / Helge Lurås -- Blind men and political elephants : transitions to phase 4 and beyond / Charles Hauss -- Transitions and the concept of local ownership : importance and impediments / Ann L. Phillips -- Transitioning to a strong sustainable host country economy / Rick Coplen -- Banking in Bosnia 1996-2003 : transforming and transitioning a post-conflict banking system / Bryan H. Kurtz and Patrick M. Bryski -- Post-conflict reconstruction in the health sector : host nation perspective / Shakir Javad ... [et al.] -- The importance of women in economic recovery and stability during the transitional periods of civil military operations / Jennifer Glossinger -- Strategic leadership for transition / Bryan A. Groves -- The role of fighting corruption in facilitating transition in Afghanistan / Alix J. Boucher -- Haiti 2010 : coming out of disaster / William Hyde and H. Roy Williams -- Transition : post Korean War, Republic of Korea / Joseph Pak -- Leading through, by, and with : the challenge of managing transitions when the United States is not the lead partner / José M. Madera -- Transition and the civil society-military relationship / Lisa Schirch -- Navigating a shifting path : planning and conducting security transition to a host nation / I. A. Rigden -- Transition to stability operations in Iraq : JCOA case study one / Bradford Davis ... [et al.] -- Conclusion : strategic takeaways / Harry R. Yarger.