The beginners guide to nation-building /
James Dobbins ... [et al.],
- Santa Monica, Cal : Rand, 2007
- xlii, 284 p.
The United States has had more recent experience of nation building than any other country yet seems to have been woefully unprepared for the aftermath of the military action in Iraq. This guidebook was developed to help the planning and implementation of the process so that future efforts have a better chance of success. The book describes the constituent elements of any nation building mission: military, police, civil administrators, and experts on political reform and economic development. Chapters discuss the military, the police, the rule of law, humanitarian relief, governance, economic stabilisation, and development. Chapter ten looks at the major costs of nation building and notes that the size of the state in question is a limiting factor - some are simply too large; transformational objectives should recognise this constraint from the outset.