2012-05-24T23:00:23Z Copyright (c) 2012, The RAND Corporation RAND Corporation http://www.rand.org/topics/nation-building.html http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG1039.html Aug 12, 2010 Aug 12, 2010

Haiti's future prosperity and peace depend on its ability to build a more resilient state, one capable of providing public services like education and health care as well as responding effectively to natural disasters.

http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG1198.html May 9, 2012 May 9, 2012

Past efforts to resolve ethno-territorial conflicts in Brčko, Mostar, Northern Ireland, and Jerusalem provide insights that could facilitate a negotiated settlement regarding the disputed Iraqi city of Kirkuk. The case studies show that Arabs, Kurds, and Turkomen must emphasize governance over symbols of sovereignty, develop adaptable power-sharing mechanisms, marginalize spoilers, empower local leaders, and create multi-ethnic security forces.

http://www.rand.org/commentary/2012/02/25/IHT.html Feb 24, 2012 Feb 24, 2012

While NATO countries and allies like Jordan and Qatar have started to train and equip the security forces, there is more that outsiders can do to help, writes Frederic Wehrey.

http://www.rand.org/commentary/2011/12/20/GS.html Dec 20, 2011 Dec 20, 2011

The Arab Spring demonstrated that leaderless revolutions are difficult to repress or co-opt. Unfortunately, it is also true that leaderless revolts find it difficult to make transition to authority, writes Charles Ries.

http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG903.html Nov 23, 2011 Nov 23, 2011

As challenging as coalition warfare is during conventional conflicts, the difficulties are compounded in number and character when the contingency is instead a stability operation. The absence of a threat that puts survival interests at risk translates into weaker commitment and more-restrictive caveats on how a participant's capabilities are employed.

http://www.rand.org/pubs/rgs_dissertations/RGSD288.html Nov 4, 2011 Nov 4, 2011

Tests the hypothesis that development and reconstruction actors can feasibly implement sound development and reconstruction across a relatively wide spectrum of conflict, but varying levels and natures of violence can affect its delivery.

http://www.rand.org/commentary/2011/10/20/CNN.html Oct 20, 2011 Oct 20, 2011

The days and weeks after a victory like this are a golden hour that set in motion either a virtuous cycle of increasing security and economic growth, or a downward spiral into insecurity, factionalism and economic chaos, write Christopher S. Chivvis and Frederic Wehrey.

http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG1119.html Oct 11, 2011 Oct 11, 2011

Governments intervening in post-conflict states face challenges and dilemmas regarding stabilization and reconstruction, where measures that may improve conditions in one respect may undermine them in another. A review of relevant literature seeks to inform strategic planning at the whole-of-government level.

http://www.rand.org/commentary/2011/10/07/TIME.html Oct 7, 2011 Oct 7, 2011

If the Afghan government is to have a chance of defeating the Taliban, its national-security forces must successfully leverage the country's many competing factions, village by village, writes Seth G. Jones.

http://www.rand.org/commentary/2011/09/29/REUT.html Sep 29, 2011 Sep 29, 2011

Multiple polls commissioned by independent news and other organizations consistently reveal an Afghan population that sees improvement in its well-being, has a favorable view of its government and is optimistic about its future, writes James Dobbins.

http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG1066.html Sep 11, 2011 Sep 11, 2011

Security force assistance (SFA) is a central pillar of the counterinsurgency campaign being waged by U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan. An analysis of SFA efforts documents U.S. and international approaches to building the Afghan National Security Forces from 2001 to 2009 and provides recommendations and their implications for the U.S Army.

http://www.rand.org/commentary/2011/08/25/FA.html Aug 25, 2011 Aug 25, 2011

The SCAF's attempts to curtail dissent and the democratic process have fueled doubts about its true intentions. Will the military fulfill its promise to support democracy? Or will it seek to replace Mubarak's rule with its own or that of a friendly autocrat? write Jeffrey Martini and Julie Taylor.

http://www.rand.org/commentary/2011/08/23/FA.html Aug 23, 2011 Aug 23, 2011

If Libya is to have a chance of replacing Qaddafi with something better, the United States, its allies, and the rest of the international community will need to pivot very quickly from the rather straightforward requirements of war fighting to taking seriously the complex and demanding tasks of peace building, write James Dobbins and Frederic Wehrey.

http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG1131.html Aug 16, 2011 Aug 16, 2011

A sustained focus on Afghanistan at all levels of the U.S. government is needed for the United States to make the most of its limited influence on the complex Afghan peace process.

http://www.rand.org/news/press/2011/08/17.html Aug 16, 2011 Aug 16, 2011

A sustained focus on Afghanistan at all levels of the U.S. government is needed for the United States to make the most of its limited influence on the complex Afghan peace process.

http://www.rand.org/pubs/occasional_papers/OP339.html Jul 25, 2011 Jul 25, 2011

Continuing tensions between Arab and Kurdish communities in Iraq could lead to inadvertent armed conflict unless Iraqi leaders resolve outstanding disputes regarding federalism, the legal and political status of disputed territories, and the management of northern Iraq's oil and gas resources.

http://www.rand.org/commentary/2011/05/19/CNN.html May 19, 2011 May 19, 2011

Assisting Arab democratic transitions will not eliminate religious extremism. But successful transitions would directly challenge the jihadist brands that promote attacks on America, writes Julie Taylor.

http://www.rand.org/commentary/2011/04/01/WP.html Apr 1, 2011 Apr 1, 2011

Afghans in general are much more optimistic about their future than we Americans are about ours, write James Dobbins and Craig Charney.

http://www.rand.org/commentary/2011/03/15/GS.html Mar 15, 2011 Mar 15, 2011

We have learned over the past couple of decades that it is deceptively easy for the world's only superpower to topple objectionable regimes—but a good deal harder to replace them with something better, writes James Dobbins.

http://www.rand.org/commentary/2011/02/22/CNN.html Feb 22, 2011 Feb 22, 2011

The most favorable outcome achievable in Egypt might be what we see in Iraq, but without the violence, writes Harold Brown.