Jason Aplon has spent more than three decades working in some of the most difficult post-war and transitional environments in the world. A deeply thoughtful colleague and widely respected practitioner, he has worked in more than 30 countries with communities that are fragmenting, recovering from violence, or trying to rebuild a political center after the guns fall silent. His work has placed him on the front lines of post-war transitions - where former fighters return home, institutions falter or begin again, and the social contracts that once held people together must somehow be rebuilt.

In our conversation, Jason begins in Bosnia in the early 1990s, reflecting on what he witnessed in the aftermath of ethnic cleansing and civil war. From there, he traces the broader forces that shape both conflict and recovery: how political entrepreneurs manipulate fear, how ordinary people navigate the uncertainty of collapsing systems, and how the international community sometimes helps, and sometimes inadvertently harms, the ability of communities to move forward.

He speaks with clarity about the patterns he’s seen across contexts:

* what really drives communities apart,

* what allows them to consider, and act on, reconciliation,

* why peace agreements may not resolve what matters most, and

* why local actors, not external ones, ultimately determine whether recovery takes root.

This episode is a grounded, unvarnished look at what it takes for societies to come back from the brink, offered by someone who has spent his professional life in the hard, slow work of helping them do so.

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