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"Remarkably ambitious in its audacity and scope, NATO's irregular warfare and nation-building mission in Afghanistan has struggled to meet its nonmilitary objectives by most tangible measures. Put directly, the Alliance and its partners have fallen short of achieving the results needed to create a stable, secure, democratic, and self-sustaining Afghan nation, a particularly daunting proposition given Afghanistan's history and culture, the region's contemporary circumstances, and the fact that no such country has existed there before. Furthermore, given the central nature of U.S. contributions to this NATO mission, these shortfalls also serve as an indicator of a serious American problem as well. Specifically, inconsistencies and a lack of coherence in the U.S. Government's strategic planning processes and products, as well as fundamental flaws in the U.S. Government's structures and systems for coordinating and integrating the efforts of its various agencies, are largely responsible for this adverse and dangerous situation. This book explores these strategic and interagency shortfalls, while proposing potential reforms that would enable the United States to achieve the strategic coherence and genuine unity of effort that will be needed in an era of constrained resources and emerging new threats."--Publisher's website

A year after Qaddafi's death, the light-footprint approach adopted for Libya's postwar transition is facing its most serious test. Security, the political transition, and economic development all present challenges. The security situation requires immediate attention and could worsen still. Until the militias are brought under state control, progress on other fronts will be very difficult to achieve. In most cases, the appropriate approach is a combination of incentives and broad-based negotiation between Tripoli and militia leaders. Only in extreme cases should the use of force be considered. On the political front, Libya and international actors deserve credit for the successful elections in July, but the political challenges ahead are significant. Libya still needs to write a constitution, and in doing so, it must determine the degree to which power is centralized in Tripoli and how to ensure inclusive yet stable governing institutions. Libya also needs to begin rethinking the management of its economy, and especially of its energy resources, to maximize the benefit to its citizens, reduce corruption, and enable private enterprise to flourish in other areas, such as tourism. Libya also needs sustained assistance, mainly technical in nature, from the countries that helped oust Qaddafi lest the transition run off the rails. Despite its role in helping topple Qaddafi, NATO is absent from Libya today. A greater role for the alliance is worth exploring, for example training Libyan security officials and forces and providing technical assistance for security-sector reform. An international Friends of Libya conference on assistance to Libya is warranted. Post-conflict transitions normally span years, and Libya's will be no different. Nevertheless, if current challenges are handled adroitly, Libya could still emerge as a positive force for democratic stability in North Africa and a valuable partner against al-Qaeda

Intro -- State Building and Democracy in Africa: A Comparative and Developmental Approach -- Contents -- Foreword -- Preface -- Acknowledgement -- Abbreviations -- Introduction: Critical Choices for Africa -- Structure -- The Objectives and Rationale -- Introduction -- Scope -- Basic Issues: Africa in the 21st Century -- Global Order and Nation States -- Competing for Change -- Looking Ahead towards Sustainable Democracy and Society -- Public Management -- Weakening of the State -- Strong Societies -- Sustainable State-Building and Democracy in Africa -- Prospects and Transition to Democratic Governance -- Underlying Fundamental Issues -- Changes to the State -- Analytical Reflection -- Criteria for Evaluating Africa's Democratic Transition Process -- Reinstating the Missing Dimension -- Representation -- Accountability -- Participation -- Concluding Comments -- Failure of the Nation-State -- Role and Responsibility of the International Community -- Trends in Embracing the Politics of Confrontation and Consensus -- Transition to Democratic Governance in Africa: Comparative Analysis -- Origins of Africa's Failure in the Democratic Process -- Legitimacy of the Mono-Centric Party System -- Nationalist Leaders Critique of Poly-Centricism -- Popular Participation and Empowerment -- Politics of Containment -- Paths towards Re-Democratization Process in Africa Politics of Redemocratisation -- Opposition Forces -- Marxist-led Revolutionary War -- Organized Violent Revolt Coordinate by Reformist Groups/Parties -- By Way of Conclusion -- Towards a New Political Order -- The Failure of Democracy -- Where is Africa Now -- Where Should Africa Go -- Prospects for the Future -- Elections and the Democratic Challenges Confronting the Realities -- Elections -- Democracy Is Not Enough -- Epilogue and Conclusion.

In the following article, we examine the positions of the decision makers of Estonia on multiple and European citizenship. The Estonian case ofers good opportunities to discuss the structuring of the feld of citizenship in the context of a country that is building up a European style nation-state but that has to simultaneously adjust to the changes in statehood usually characterised as globalisation and Europeanisation. The article is based on a survey conducted in 2003-2004 in eight countries: Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Portugal and United Kingdom. We will frst briefy characterise the socio-historical context of Estonian citizenship policies, then discuss the results of the empirical research, relate these to wider trends and draw some conclusions.

This article examines how interest groups in Hong Kong have politicised national history, an unpopular school subject, for their own political ends and allied themselves with the PRC against the SAR government and its policy of not making it a single, independent, compulsory core subject in the school curriculum. The article argues that this has been made possible by the 'One country, two systems' administrative structure. © 2011 British Curriculum Foundation. ; postprint

A challenge for Africa is how to derive common values from the values of diverse communities. The challenge becomes even more difficult in the face of notions such as autonomy, multiculturalism and respect for difference which are accompanying the emergence of neo-liberalism, globalisation and cosmopolitanism. While it is important to respect diversity in a postcolonial society, it is equally important that nation-building should strive for the promotion of common values among the citizenry. This article uses the example of Zimbabwe and South Africa as a comparative case study to investigate how the ruling elites in these two southern African countries have endeavoured to apply the curriculum for nation-building and the promotion of common citizenship by inculcating common values in young citizens. The article also explores the role of the curriculum from the perspective of social constructivism, where 'curriculum' is defined as an agency to foster social, cultural and political ideals in society. The academic discipline that is highly vulnerable to the imperatives of nation-building and the interests of the political elite is history, as it is prone to manipulation by political regimes in their hegemonic projects.

Concerns about failed and fragile states have put state- and nation-building firmly on the academic and policy agenda. The crucial role of public services in this process has remained under-explored. The 1960s and 70s generated a substantial set of literature on state- and nation-building that is largely absent from current writings that focus on developing countries. This literature, mainly focusing on Western European countries, identified state penetration, standardisation, and accommodation as key processes in the state- and nation-building sequence. In this paper we analyse these processes of state- and nation-building in Western Europe in the 17th-19th centuries, and the role of public services therein, to explore how they may help us to understand the success and failure of state- and nation-building in developing countries and fragile states. We end with a number of key lessons and questions for international donors.

After civil wars end, what can sustain peace in the long-term? In particular, how can outsiders facilitate durable conflict-managing institutions through statebuilding - a process that historically has been the outcome of bloody struggles to establish the state's authority over warlords, traditional authorities, and lawless territories?In this book, Timothy Sisk explores international efforts to help the world's most fragile post-civil war countries today build viable states that can provi.

Despite the best of intentions, donors can inadvertently undermine statebuilding processes. When the resources they deliver or the reforms they advocate weaken rather than strengthen the state's decision- and policy-making functions, their efforts can do more harm than good. Donors can also do harm by creating a brain drain away from state organizations - for instance, by hiring the most qualified civil servants. When aid is delivered in a way that actually acts as a disincentive to states to consolidate their own revenue base, this can slow the development of the state's own capacity. How can donors ensure they do no harm? How can they be sure they intervene constructively in fragile situations? This publication provides practical guidance based on the results of research undertaken on behalf of the OECD DAC International Network on Conflict and Fragility (INCAF). The book is based on comparative case studies of six countries (Afghanistan, Bolivia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nepal, Rwanda and Sierra Leone) and a comprehensive literature review. It addresses how the interventions of OECD countries may risk undermining positive statebuilding processes, and makes recommendations as to how this may be avoided in the future.--Publisher's description

Drawing on a mix of international academic and field expert work, this book presents and analyses contemporary state-building efforts. It offers lessons for the future of state-building relevant to both practitioners and the academic community.

An attempt has been made several times to identify and discuss the U.S. experience on the formation of political nation in political science. The purpose of this research paper is to identify the main aspects of the formation of civic identity in the United States and Kazakhstan, through the identification of similarities and differences that can get practical application in making decisions of national policy issues in the context of globalization, as well as to answer the questions "What should unite the citizens of Kazakhstan to the nation?" and "What should be the dominant identity: civil or ethnic (national) one?" Can Kazakhstan being multiethnic country like America, adopt its experience in the formation of a civic nation? Since it is believed that the "multi-ethnic state of the population is a characteristic feature of most modern countries in the world," it states that "inter-ethnic integration is one of the most important aspects of the problem of forming a new social community (metaetnic - Kazakh people, Kazakh nation" [1].

Why, Benedict Anderson once asked, did Javanese become Indonesian in 1945 whereas the Vietnamese balked at becoming Indochinese? In this classic study, Goscha shows that Vietnamese of all political colours came remarkably close to building a modern national identity based on the colonial model of Indochina while Lao and Cambodian nationalists rejected this precisely because it represented a Vietnamese entity. Specialists of French colonial, Vietnamese, Southeast Asia and nationalism studies will all find much of value in Goscha's provocative rethinking of the relationship between colonialism and nationalism in Indochina. ; A well-written and interesting study of the formation of the modern Vietnamese, Laotian and Cambodian nation-states.Confirms the accusation that the Vietnamese communists were expansionists trying to establish an Indochinese federation.Goscha's innovative concept of space has a wider applicability far beyond the time and place he describes. First published in 1995, the revised edition of this remarkable study is augmented with new material by the author and a foreword by Eric Jennings.