IRISC was created to provide expertise, education, and research with respect to rule of law and stabilization. IRISC will develop interdisciplinary expertise to use law as a means to foster reconstruction and provide stability to foreign states and regions at risk of, besieged with, or emerging from conflict due to civil strife. IRISC will partner or collaborate with governmental agencies, academic institutions, professional organizations, NGOs and others to advance its mission.
IRISC does not suggest that western-style legal codes and institutions are the only acceptable models. Rather, IRISC seeks to work within cultural contexts and encourage the "civic identity" necessary for the rule of law. As a fundamental part of its mission, IRISC is committed to a multi-cultural approach to the rule of law and stability–an attitude that is sensitive and responsive to the diverse values, contexts, interests and challenges facing unstable states and communities around the globe.