Strategic Policy Directions

This chapter translates the Developmental Network State (DNS) framework into a strategic agenda for implementing capability-driven transformation under constraint. Building on insights from the Western Balkans, it outlines how governance systems in low-capacity and donor-dependent contexts can evolve through three core functions: learning, coordination, and embeddedness. The chapter proposes a practical roadmap centered on six strategic directions: establishing multi-actor coordination platforms, embedding structured experimentation, targeting supplier and skills upgrading, leveraging transnational networks, integrating Special Economic Zones and global value chains into domestic economies, and institutionalizing learning within policy cycles. It further examines the political feasibility and sequencing of reforms, emphasizing that transformation depends on gradual coalition building, visible early results, and iterative learning. Through the DNS lens, reform becomes a cumulative process of adaptation rather than institutional transplantation. The chapter concludes by presenting an implementation roadmap that connects policy intent with practical mechanisms for coordination, financing, and feedback. It argues that successful transformation requires turning constraint into a platform for learning, aligning political, institutional, and developmental objectives in ways that foster resilience and sustained capability accumulation.