The World Development Report 2011 describes the relationship between conflict, security and development and makes a strong argument in favour of strengthening legitimate institutions to reduce the fragility of countries facing protracted cycles of violence, and moving from violence to resilience in order to realise development goals. While highlighting some of the lessons learned from the report (the nature of violence in the 21st century, the global reach of seemingly local conflicts, the universality of conflict as an impediment to development, the role of the nternational community, and the impact on health), this comment discusses the role of development on conflict and security -- particularly the role of imbalanced inequitable development on fuelling conflict and insecurity.