The policy brief presents a crucial lesson on the dynamics of statebuilding in an unstable, fragile state environment: the impact of international actions and resources on the statebuilding outcome is secondary to, and highly dependent upon, the impact of the preferences and capacity of national actors. The brief begins by situating this lesson in the debate on the future of statebuilding. This leads to a presentation of two national factors that have a significant impact on the statebuilding outcome. Finally, the brief draws two strategic implications of this lesson for statebuilding in unstable, fragile state environments.