Nepal’s war-to-peace transition illustrates the complex political and economic causes, as well as legacies, of conflict that significantly shape chances of success, both for economic recovery and peacebuilding. There can be no successful economic recovery to lay the grounds for inclusive growth without peace and security; conversely peace and security critically depend on the support of economic actors, and rapid improvement of the economic conditions for conflict-affected people. However, purely technical approaches to both do not offer sufficient space to explore the political economy of a fragile transition process; and so can inadvertently fuel conflict afresh