Lesotho has been bedevilled by sporadic episodes of conflicts since the dawn of independence. Most conflicts revolved around an incumbent and antagonistic elite whereby the latter attempts to overthrow the former. This article sets out to examine how civil society organizations (CSOs) promoted trust, tolerance, cooperation and strengthened peacebuilding efforts in the country. It argues that the government generally relied on foreign actors over CSOs to solve the cyclical problem of conflicts hence the persistence of social dilemmas. CSOs’ intervention appears to be more productive than the foreign actors in addressing first-order collective action problems and shaping peacebuilding agreements. Hence, the government has to reconsider favouring South Africa and the South African Development Community when devising peace agreements.

自独立之初，莱索托就一直受到零星冲突的困扰。大多数冲突都围绕在位和敌对的精英展开，后者试图推翻前者。本文旨在研究民间社会组织 (CSO) 如何在该国促进信任、宽容、合作和加强建设和平努力。它认为，政府通常依赖外国行为者而不是公民社会组织来解决冲突的周期性问题，从而导致社会困境的持续存在。在解决一级集体行动问题和制定建设和平协议方面，公民社会组织的干预似乎比外国行动者更有成效。因此，政府在制定和平协议时必须重新考虑偏袒南非和南非发展共同体。