United Nations and United States experiences in nation-building.

AuthorNewman, Edward
PositionThe UN's Role in Nation-Building: From the Congo to Iraq - America's Role in Nation-Building: From Germany to Iraq - Book review

THE UN's ROLE IN NATION-BUILDING: FROM THE CONGO TO IRAQ

By James Dobbins, Seth G. Jones, Keith Crane, Andrew Rathmell, Brett Steele, Richard Teltschik and Anga Timilsina; and

AMERICA'S ROLE IN NATION-BUILDING: FROM GERMANY TO IRAQ

By James Dobbins, John G. McGinn, Keith Crane, Seth G. Jones, Rollie Lai, Andrew Rathmell, Rachel Swanger and Anga Timilsina Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation (2005)

In ideal circumstances, the State provides peace, human rights and human needs, and forms the foundation of a stable international system. Many of the most challenging problems that afflict humankind arc related to State weakness or failure, where Governments are unable or unwilling to fulfil basic standards of human security, or where violent conflict or chronic underdevelopment undermines public goods and the institutions of statehood.

It is generally agreed that the effects of State failure and violent conflict can spill over territorial borders and cause a range of wider security threats, which include refugee flows, illegal trafficking in narcotics and humans, environmental problems, and disruption of financial markets and trade, as well as terrorism, as in the case of Afghanistan. Before the fall of the Taliban, experience showed how corrupt, unstable, ineffective and repressive governance was in that country: human rights, development and education, among others, ranked worst in the world. At the same time, such a state of affairs was a breeding ground and haven for violent grievances and terrorism, the effects of which have had a greater impact on international peace and security.

The negative implications of failed statehood go far and wide. Various mechanisms have evolved to resolve conflict, promote democracy and assist in economic development within countries. When international actors are involved in peacekeeping, democracy assistance, reconstruction and economic development, many commentators talk in terms of "national building". The concept has fallen in and out of political vogue since the end of the Second World War, after the great successes led by the United States in Germany and Japan. In the post-cold-war world, in particular, "nation-building" has been an amorphous and controversial topic. There was optimism at first that the international community, through the United Nations, would be willing and able to effectively support nation-building activities in the midst of New World Order values of multilateralism, democracy and human rights.

Former UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, in his "An Agenda for Peace: Preventive Diplomacy, Peacemaking and Peacekeeping", wrote of "the start of a new phase in the history" of the United Nations. In this context, the Organization became involved in a number of peace operations worldwide; but as a result of...

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