Nation-Building

Pro-democracy activists sit on inflatable ducks as they protest after the constitutional court's ruling on Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha's conflict of interest case, in Bangkok, Thailand, December 2, 2020. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun

Democracy

Letter: US foreign policy will put governance center stage

Patrick W. Quirk

Thursday, November 26, 2020

Front of the headquarters of the United Nations Office in Geneva. Geneva, Switzerland, March 04, 2020.Facade du siege de l office des Nations Unis de Geneve. Geneve, 4 Mars 2020.NO USE FRANCE

External Article

UN relevance depends on US leadership

Jeffrey Feltman

The Foreign Service Journal September 2020

People who fled fighting in South Sudan are seen walking at sunset on arrival at Bidi Bidi refugees resettlement camp near the border with South Sudan, in Yumbe district, northern Uganda December 7, 2016. REUTERS/James Akena - RC1930B69240

Sudan & South Sudan

The old guard are killing the world’s youngest country

Friday, June 14, 2019

UAE navy soldier patrols at Al-Mokha port in Yemen

Interactive

Red Sea rivalries: The Gulf, the Horn of Africa & the new geopolitics of the Red Sea

January 2019

Reports

election_observation_missions

Report

EU election observation policy: A supranationalist transatlantic bridge?

Matteo Garavoglia

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

egypt_protest078

Report

Egypt’s Difficult Transition: Why the International Community Must Stay Economically Engaged

Monday, January 27, 2014

Report

Convergence without Coordination: Why Washington and Brussels Must Work Together in North Africa

Ruth Hanau Santini and Emiliano Alessandri

Saturday, June 1, 2013

ibsa_summit001

Report

Democracy, Human Rights and the Emerging Global Order

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

turkey_demonstrators001

Report

Re-Betting on Turkey

Friday, February 8, 2013

Blog Posts

Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo speaks at The Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, U.S. April 13, 2017. REUTERS/Eric Thayer - RC147D6B9C90

Order from Chaos

What should the Senate ask Secretary of State nominee Mike Pompeo?

People displaced by the recent unrest, collect food distributed by aid agencies at an IDP camp at the Mpoko international airport of Bangui February 12, 2014. The United Nations estimates that 1.3 million people - more than a quarter of the population - are in need of urgent food aid after months of communal violence that French and African peacekeepers have been unable to stop. REUTERS/Luc Gnago (CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - GM1EA2D01YD01

Up Front

Aid wars: U.S.-Soviet competition in India

Dhruva Jaishankar and Shruti Godbole

Thursday, March 1, 2018

The USS Nimitz, USS Kitty Hawk and USS John C. Stennis Carrier Strike Groups transit in formation during a joint photo exercise during exercise Valiant Shield 2007 in the Pacific Ocean in this August 14, 2007 handout photo. The aerial formation consists of aircraft from the carrier strike groups as well as Air Force aircraft. Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Stephen W. Rowe/U.S. Navy/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC1BE2E09CE0

Order from Chaos

On the 2018 National Defense Strategy

Michael E. O’Hanlon

Sunday, January 21, 2018

View All Blog Posts

Events

Seeking solutions for Somalia

10:00 AM - 11:30 AM EDT

Side of democracy: America’s responsibilities now

5:30 PM - 7:00 PM EDT

How religion and nationalism fuel conflict in Southeast Asia

9:30 AM - 11:00 AM EST

View All Events

Related Books

Building Militaries in Fragile States: Challenges for the United States

By Mara Karlin

2017

Freedom’s Unsteady March

By Tamara Cofman Wittes

2008

Experts

Patrick W. Quirk

Nonresident Fellow - Foreign Policy, Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology

Tamara Cofman Wittes

Senior Fellow - Foreign Policy, Center for Middle East Policy

tcwittes

Ted Piccone

Nonresident Senior Fellow - Foreign Policy, Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology

View All Experts

Multimedia

egypt_flag_boy001

Podcast Episode

@ Brookings Podcast: U.S.-Egypt Tensions a Year after the Revolution

Friday, February 10, 2012

Podcast Episode

@ Brookings Podcast: The U.S. Role in Supporting the Libyan Rebels

Friday, April 22, 2011

View All Multimedia

More on Nation-Building

The fourth political revolution?

Vikram Singh Mehta

Tuesday, March 6, 2018

DATE IMPORTED:September 16, 2017Members of Somali Armed Forces take their position during fighting between the military and police backed by intelligence forces in the Dayniile district of Mogadishu, Somalia September 16, 2017. REUTERS/Feisal Omar

More airstrikes, less aid not enough to secure Somalia

Vanda Felbab-Brown

Tuesday, January 16, 2018

DATE IMPORTED:December 11, 2016Members of the U.S. Army Special Forces provide training for Iraqi fighters from Hashid Shaabi at Makhmur camp in Iraq December 11, 2016. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

Why military assistance programs disappoint

Foreign Affairs November/December 2017

A U.S. soldier, part of a NATO peace force, places barbed wire on his Humvee during a protest in the ethnically divided town of Mitrovica June 22, 2014. Police in Kosovo fired tear gas and rubber bullets on Sunday at ethnic Albanian rioters burning police cars and lobbing rocks in Mitrovica, in protest over the blockage of the main bridge by ethnic Serbs. REUTERS/Hazir Reka (KOSOVO - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3V4GC

How Trump should get ready for America’s messy missions abroad

Michael E. O’Hanlon and Jeffrey A. Stacey

Friday, January 6, 2017

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) listens as U.S. President Barack Obama (R) addresses a joint news conference in the White House Rose Garden in Washington, May 16, 2013. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo

The coup conundrum

Friday, July 22, 2016

erdogan_davutoglu_split

U.S. recognizes the only interlocutor in Turkey as the president

Barçın Yinanç and Kemal Kirişci

Monday, May 23, 2016