At the turn of the century, civil war had threatened to tip the Solomon Islands past the brink of state failure, as fighting intensified between the Isatabu Freedom Movement and the Malaitan Eagle Force.

Commonly referred to as ''the tensions'', the period between 1998 and 2003 saw rampant lawlessness, and a government completely unable to provide security and other basic services to its people.

It suffered a coup in 2000, led by the MEF, and faced constant allegations of corruption and institutional failure. Local police were themselves accused of taking sides in the war.

The conflict displaced more than 20,000 people living on Guadalcanal, the largest of nearly a 1000 islands the make up the Solomons.

Following a number of smaller scale foreign interventions and conflict resolution efforts, the Solomon Islands government finally made an official request for help from the Pacific Islands Forum in 2003.

The response of the Pacific community was named RAMSI, or the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands, a police-led multilateral intervention force of about 2000 personnel, including civilians, police from a wide range of Pacific countries, and a taskforce of Australian, New Zealand, Papua New Guinean and Tongan soldiers.

RAMSI's affect was immediate.

A gun amnesty in 2003 helped to disarm violent parties, and militia leaders were rounded up and put through a strengthened justice and correctional system, both of which were dysfunctional during the tensions.

The rioting, looting and criminality that had plagued Honiara was brought under control, and a semblance of normality was brought back to the nation.

But eight years and well over $1billion later, stability remains as uncertain as ever for Solomon Islanders. As recently as this week, mobs were marching the streets of Honiara, lobbing rocks at police and the residence of the Governor-General.

They were protesting the resignation of Prime Minister Danny Philip and the election of his former Finance Minister Gordon Darcy Lilo this week. Philip, who was elected just last year, was toppled from government last week following corruption allegations over misused funds from Taiwan.

The allegations led to the resignations of many MPs, such as the Minister for Police Clay Forau, Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Connelly Sandakabatu, Minister for Mines and Energy Moses Garu and Lilo.

Philip resigned late last Thursday, one night before he was due to face a no-confidence vote.

Security forces were deployed in high numbers around the capital Honiara on Wednesday, as hundreds took to the streets in mobs to protest against the appointment of Prime Minister Lilo.

The protest quickly turned violent and rocks were thrown at police, injuring a number of officers. The crowd was eventually dispersed using tear gas, and 19 arrests were made.

The scenes were reminiscent of the period of violence that rocked the nation in 2006, following protests over the election of Prime Minister Snyder Rini.

Allegations of corruption and perceived financial links with Asian business owners led to rioting, looting and violence.

The unrest all but destroyed Honiara's Chinatown, and foreign police and troops operating under RAMSI were deployed to bring order to the city.

Yet despite the unrest, the Solomon Islands has taken key steps toward rebuilding a democratic, economically viable state over the past eight years.

The nation's economy is powering ahead, with a predicted growth rate of 9per cent of GDP this year. Schools have been reopened, prisons have been secured, and the previously weak Royal Solomon Islands Police Force is slowly building in capacity.

Australian Army Reserve Major-General Paul Brereton, who visited the country this month to lead a group of employers inspecting the work of their reserve employees, says the effect of the regional intervention has been profound.

''I've seen over the years, a significant improvement in the security, stability and safety or sense of safety, certainly around Honiara and Guadalcanal,'' Brereton says. ''I think that is very largely attributable to the presence of RAMSI, Australia and the Australian Defence Force.''

Yet, despite this progress, the Solomon Islands still faces many challenges. In the eyes of its people, corruption remains a major issue which is spreading through a wide range of political institutions.

According to Transparency International's corruption perceptions index, the Solomon Islands performs poorly, ranked at 110 of 178 countries, only just above Ethiopia, and equal with Kosovo.

Like many Solomon Islanders, 29-year-old Honiara resident Henrietta Mua is frustrated by the constant allegations of corruption that plague the political system. ''I don't really think I'd put my trust in the government,'' she says. ''They say some of them are investing and misusing the funds ... whatever funds are coming towards the country, when it's supposed to be for the grassroots people.''

''I don't like corruption, I don't want the Solomon Islands to be a corrupt country.''

But corruption is not the only risk to peace in the Solomons.

Swelling city populations, particularly in Honiara, and rapid urbanisation, are putting severe stress on basic services, such as healthcare, electricity and roads.

The head of RAMSI, special coordinator Nicholas Coppel, says this shift to the city, driven largely by those chasing employment and opportunity associated with the nation's economic growth, has the potential to threaten stability.

''It creates tensions around the provision of services, health and education, puts pressures on those systems, and pressures on communities, access to water supply, electricity supply, roads, land in a Melanesian context, is very important, because it's seen as outsiders coming in [to the city],'' Coppel says.

Mass movements to the city has also created large, idle groups of unemployed, who Coppel fears could quickly become antagonised and involved in conflict.

''It's groups of people who can rapidly come together because they've got nothing to lose and everything to gain,'' he says. ''They might come together after an exciting football match, they might come together as a result of political factors, they might come together on the basis of rumours going around of offence being caused, possibly a rape, or name-calling ... and it gets exaggerated, it gets out of control.''

Like many developing nations, rapid economic progress has created actual and perceived disparity and economic inequality in the Solomons, and Coppel fears that this could create an atmosphere of antagonism and resentment.

Many locals see themselves as dependent on RAMSI's presence to stave off any return to violence and unrest.

Honiara resident Alfred Tahe believes that if foreign forces leave, crime and disorder will quickly return to the Solomons.

Tahe says he wants RAMSI to stay in the country for up to 15 years.

''RAMSI needs to stay in the Solomon Islands to continue to maintain peace,'' he says. ''If they are going out, then we would experience a lot of crimes and problems.''

''When RAMSI came in, we see a lot of change happen in the country in terms of security, they try to bring back security and order.''

Foreign police, however, are in the middle of a transition process in the country, with a significant draw down planned by 2013.

RAMSI's police force will be reduced from 250 currently to 150 by 2013, and officers will withdraw from 10 of 13 provincial police posts scattered across the Solomons. Those who remain will focus on training and logistical support for the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force.

The transition will put the onus of providing everyday policing back on local police, who remain unarmed, and without the support of a defence force. Coppel says the police force remains underfunded, ill-equipped, and hampered by outdated legislation.

The head of RAMSI's military component, Combined Task Force 635, Commanding Officer Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell Smith believes the RSIPF is still dependent on foreign support.

''I don't believe that the Solomon Islands Police Force is ready at this instant to stand up without support from RAMSI,'' Smith says. ''However, I believe they have strong leadership and strong plans to improve their capability, they're getting a lot of support from the Participating Police Force, and in the end, there will always be the Combined Task Force, the military component, sitting in the background in case something does go awry.''

''I think the Solomon Islands Police Force is making leaps and bounds in their professionalism and their ability to police this country, and not today, but in the very near future, they'll be ready stand up and take complete control.''

That faith, however, is not shared by locals.

Honiara resident Serena Sangatu, 21, was a victim of the bitter fighting during the tensions, and was ordered off her land and out of her family home by the MEF.

She recalls a time when the local police force became involved in the violence themselves, failing to provide order or protect civilians.

''During the ethnic tensions, they were not really helping, most of them were making deals with the [militias],'' she says.

Sangatu says she does not believe the local police have changed since the RAMSI intervention, and says foreign police are still needed to maintain law and order.

But Coppel, head of RAMSI, says the withdrawal does not constitute an abandonment of the Solomon Islands, and maintains that foreign police will still be deployed during major incidents.

''The transition is about stepping back from the front-line policing, the every day policing, and allowing the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force to step up,'' Coppel says. ''The focus is increasingly on capacity-building and identifying the gaps in the capabilities of the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force and addressing those.''

Playing an important role in the continued stability during the transition period are the Australian Army Reserves, who are typically deployed to the country on rotating four-month deployments as part of Operation ANODE.

They work with New Zealand soldiers, and alternating contingents from Papua New Guinea or Tonga.

The soldiers' presence is designed as a deterrent to those seeking to incite conflict, and they have been specially trained to deal with riots and public disorder.

According to Brereton, the reserves are perfectly placed for the whole-of-government stabilisation and development mission.

He believes the civilian background of the reserves helps them build stronger relationships with the local population.

''As part of RAMSI, I think they are, or they have been a really important connector with the community,'' he says. ''These missions ... involve skills of understanding and liaising and working with people that you don't necessarily want your most highly trained, front-edge fighting soldiers to do.

''You want people who have skills that they've learned through the years, through their own years in the community, mixing with a diverse range of people, and understanding how people react to different situations.''

As the political tensions of the past two weeks showed, the Solomon Islands remains precariously balanced, clinging to peace and stability by a thread.

Just how long RAMSI will remain in the Solomon Islands is still unknown, and the shape and structure of the foreign mission beyond 2013 is uncertain.

But those on the streets of Honiara, such as Sangatu, have no doubt what will happen if foreign forces pack up and leave the Solomon Islands. ''If they left, we'd go right back to square one,'' she says.

Christopher Knaus is The Canberra Times' Police Reporter and visited the Solomons this month.