Summary

• After a protracted violent conflict, the Pacific island of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea has undergone a comprehensive and to date relatively successful process of post-conflict peacebuilding and is currently in the process of state formation.

• A home-grown state based on a hybrid political order is emerging. State formation is focused on reconciling institutions of the state with non-state customary community governance mechanisms and cultural norms.

• Peace, order and security are maintained through the combined efforts of state, customary actors and civil society. A core dimension of statehood is thus organized in a way that differs markedly from the Western Weberian notion of statehood.

• What is generally seen as a sine qua non of statehood, namely the capacity to implement and enforce the »rule of (state) law,«is lacking in Bougainville, due to the weakness of the police, the judiciary and other state institutions. This »deficiency,«however, has not hindered post-conflict peacebuilding, nor has it been detrimental to the establishment of political order and security. Rather, order and security are based on the positive mutual accommodation of introduced state and local customary institutions.