The Beginner's Guide to Nation-Building [Paperback]

James Dobbins (Author), Seth G. Jones (Author), Keith Crane (Author), Beth Cole DeGrasse (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0833039881 | ISBN-13: 978-0833039880 | Publication Date: February 8, 2007 | Edition: 1

This guidebook is designed as a contribution to future nation-building efforts. It is organized around the components that make up any nation-building mission: planning, military and police contingents, civil administrators, humanitarian and relief efforts, governance, economic stabilization, democratization, and infrastructure development. This guide is intended to help practitioners avoid repeating earlier mistakes, help political leaders evaluate the cost and likelihood of success in any proposed operation, and help citizens evaluate their government's consequent performance.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This new book produced by the RAND Corporation is a remarkable success. You have to read 'The Beginner's Guide to Nation Building', by James Dobbins et al , carefully although the text is clearly written and far from excessively technical. The reason is that many nation building missions we deem damn near impossible, in most countries, [see Part II of Security First], RAND considers possible. But Dobbins points out such nation building exercises are difficult to achieve, can be achieved only after hostilities have ceased, are much more costly than you would expect, and take much longer than expected as well.
The Communitarian Network


The United States and the United Nations have, with increasing frequency, embarked on military interventions and nation-building operations that have become larger, longer, and more ambitious. Dobbins and his associates at RAND have led the way in reflecting on these experiences in an effort to find lessons for the future. In this volume, they offer insights drawn from the review of 24 nation-building missions. Some of their findings take the shape of a list of guidelines for planning and deploying personnel and resources--not least the realistic matching of goals to assets....
Foreign Affairs, May/June 2007

From the Inside Flap

This volume presents a comprehensive compilation of best practices in nation-building and serves as an indispensable reference for planning future interventions.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 318 pages
• Publisher: Rand Publishing; 1 edition (February 8, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0833039881
• ISBN-13: 978-0833039880
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #447,011 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)