Nation-Building

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After conflicts end, allied nations must undertake military, political, humanitarian, and economic activities to enable states to prosper, but these activities do not always succeed. RAND has examined U.S., United Nations, and European Union nation-building efforts since World War II to determine key principles for their success and draw implications for current and future nation-building investment.

  • Supporters of the Houthi movement take part in a rally marking the anniversary of launching their motto (Sarkha) in which they call for death to America and death to Israel in Sanaa, Yemen, June 28, 2019, photo by Mohamed al-Sayaghi/Reuters

    Report

    Building an Enduring Peace in Yemen

    Peace in Yemen will require a coordinated approach to security and an international body with the influence, mission, and resources to support what will be a decades-long process of reconciliation, reconstruction, and redevelopment. To succeed, this body must be led by Yemenis, giving them a clear voice and stake in shaping their future.

    Feb 25, 2021

  • Building cranes and power lines connecting high-tension electricity pylons next to a construction site in Kyiv, Ukraine, July 10, 2020, photo by Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters

    Commentary

    Rebuilding Ukraine

    By leveraging better investment conditions and reforms and broad international support, Ukraine could carry out a well-executed reconstruction program once the fighting ends. It might repair much of the war damage and help Ukraine move into the ranks of faster-growing European economies.

    Apr 18, 2022

Explore Nation Building

  • Richard Solomon speaking to the RAND Board of Trustees, November 2014

    Announcement

    Richard H. Solomon, RAND Policy Analyst and Former Diplomat, Dies at 79

    Richard H. Solomon, a senior fellow at RAND, a China scholar, and a seasoned diplomat who helped direct U.S. policy toward East Asia under President George H.W. Bush, has died.

    Mar 14, 2017

  • Displaced people who fled ISIS arrive at a military checkpoint before being transported to camps in eastern Mosul, Iraq, January 25, 2017

    Commentary

    Stabilizing Mosul After the Battle Against ISIS

    U.S.-backed Iraqi forces have retaken the east bank of Mosul and are planning to take the west soon. The military operations that oust ISIS are crucial to the city's liberation but failing to get the civilian response right risks a widening civil war.

    Feb 9, 2017

  • Silhouettes of people on a Syrian national flag are seen at a peace march in Damascus, September 21, 2016

    Report

    How to Prevent State Collapse in Syria

    Syria will likely be a weak state in a volatile region when its civil war ends. How can U.S. policy create conditions for a transition that helps fight terrorism and preserve state institutions?

    Jan 9, 2017

  • A Peshmerga soldier talks with a boy who is fleeing the fighting between Islamic State and the Iraqi army in Mosul, Iraq, November 14, 2016

    Commentary

    What the Battles of Mosul and Aleppo Tell Us About Their Countries' Futures

    The battle of Mosul is not just about defeating ISIS. It is about restoring Mosul to the multi-ethnic city it once was. The Syrian government's style of warfare in Aleppo, however, accepts that Syria will remain a divided country.

    Nov 14, 2016

  • Members of the Tunisian parliament wave flags after approving the country's new constitution in Tunis, January 26, 2014

    Commentary

    Tunisia Is an Arab Spring Success Story

    Tunisia has not unraveled into civil war like Syria or Libya. It has not undergone a counter-revolution that returned it to the autocracy of its pre-revolution days, like Egypt has. Tunisia is fragile, but its success is vital to the long-term stability and societal health of the Middle East.

    Apr 21, 2016

  • One of the members of the military protecting a demonstration against candidates for a national unity government proposed by U.N. envoy for Libya Bernardino Leon, in Benghazi, Libya, October 23, 2015

    Commentary

    Democracy in the Arab World: Still a Mirage

    From the indignant graffiti scrawled on walls across Tunis to the war-torn neighborhoods of Damascus and Tripoli, the region and the world's hopes of establishing peace and democracy have largely faded.

    Mar 17, 2016

  • Unemployed graduates hold a demonstration to demand the government provide them with job opportunities, in Tunis, Tunisia, January 20, 2016

    Commentary

    Tunisia's Paradoxical Political Union: Ennahda and Nidaa Tounes

    In Tunisia, healthy disagreement between political parties has fostered some real change since the 2011 uprisings and throughout the course of the transition, but the persistent power-sharing dynamics in play aren't advancing democracy.

    Feb 5, 2016

  • Georgy Kvirikashvili, who was nominated for the post of Georgia's prime minister on December 25 after Irakly Garibashvili resigned, delivers a speech on December 28, 2015

    Commentary

    Georgia Needs Support from the U.S. and the West

    Georgia is poised to make big changes to reinvigorate its democracy and economy, but it needs support to deter risks and advance progress. With one-fifth of its territory occupied by Russia and facing risks every day, Georgia needs more Western aid, including military training, technology, and defensive arms.

    Jan 5, 2016

  • Report

    Report

    The Costs of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Executive Summary: (Hebrew translation)

    A Hebrew translation of an executive summary of a study estimating the net costs and benefits if the long-standing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians follows its current trajectory over the next ten years, relative to five other trajectories.

    Nov 23, 2015

  • Merged Israeli and Palestinian flags

    Report

    The Costs of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Executive Summary: (Arabic translation)

    An Arabic translation of a study‘s executive summary estimating the net costs and benefits if the long-standing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians follows its current trajectory over the next ten years, relative to five other trajectories.

    Nov 23, 2015

  • The costs of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

    Report

    The Costs of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

    What are the net costs and benefits to Israelis and Palestinians if the current impasse endures over the next ten years, relative to several alternative trajectories that the conflict could take?

    Sep 8, 2015

  • A woman grieves near the grave of a relative who was a victim of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, at the Potocari Memorial Center and Cemetery, Bosnia and Herzegovina

    Commentary

    20 Years Later, the Lessons of Bosnia-Herzegovina

    U.S. intervention in Bosnia ended the fighting, bought time for a political solution to be reached, and halted the humanitarian crisis. But 20 years later, the prospects for lasting peace and a true multiethnic society to emerge in Bosnia are not encouraging.

    Aug 19, 2015

  • Palestinians walk past Israel's controversial barrier at a checkpoint near Ramallah, July 10, 2015

    Commentary

    U.S. Could Push One-State Solution to Bring About Israel-Palestine Peace

    If the next U.S. administration were to conclude that perpetuating the Israeli-Palestinian status quo for another eight years was unacceptable or unachievable, it might begin speaking of the one-state solution not as its preferred outcome, but as one more acceptable than no solution at all.

    Aug 18, 2015

  • U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice visits Camp Commando near Kabul, Afghanistan to discuss the state of Afghan Special Forces with mentors to the Afghan National Army Special Operations Command on Nov. 24, 2013

    Report

    Best Practices for Special Operations Advisory Groups

    Special Operations Advisory Groups are tasked with the responsibility of advising commanders and staff of the Afghan Special Security Forces. In-depth interviews with these personnel address rapport building, pre-deployment training, and continuity of operations.

    Aug 10, 2015

  • What are the costs of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?

    Essay

    The Price of Peace

    Groundbreaking analysis by a team of RAND economists and policy experts reveals how much Israelis and Palestinians stand to lose from the enduring conflict, and how much they could gain in peace.

    Jun 24, 2015

  • A Tunisian holds up a flag during celebrations marking the fourth anniversary of Tunisia's revolution, Tunis, January 14, 2015

    Commentary

    Tunisia in the Crosshairs

    The open-ended nature of the Islamic State group's threat against Tunisair suggests that it intends to target Tunisia for the long haul. The United States should counter the threats with steadfast and sustained cooperation and assistance.

    Jun 22, 2015

  • Call with the Experts

    Multimedia

    RAND Experts Discuss the Costs of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Study

    RAND experts discuss their recent study, The Costs of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. Media relations director Jeffrey Hiday moderated the call.

    Jun 18, 2015

  • An illustration of the Israeli and Palestinian flags

    Report

    The Costs of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Executive Summary

    For much of the past century, the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians has been a defining feature of the Middle East. Depending on its trajectory, what are the conflict's net costs and benefits to both parties over the next ten years?

    Jun 18, 2015

  • Costs of Conflict U.S. launch at the Wilson Center, June 15, 2015

    Multimedia

    Press Conference at the Wilson Center: Calculating the Costs of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

    At the U.S. launch of The Costs of Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Study held at the Wilson Center on June 15, 2015, RAND senior researchers Charles P. Ries and C. Ross Anthony discussed the economic and non-economic factors surrounding the conflict and the long-term implications for Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, and the international community.

    Jun 15, 2015

  • Palestinian girls at their family's house in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, March 10, 2015

    Commentary

    War or Peace? Putting a Price on the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse

    Today, more than 90 percent of Israelis and Palestinians were born after 1948 and have known nothing other than some version of the impasse. Both sides could be better off with a stable two-state solution. Prolonging the impasse for another generation would have real costs.

    Jun 9, 2015

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