Carnegie Reporter, Vol. 4, No. 4

Greater than the Sum of its Parts
Assessing “Whole of Government” Approaches to Fragile States
By Stewart Patrick and Kaysie Brown
International Peace Academy 2007

“Fragile states represent both the crux of today’s development challenge and an increasing source of potential threats to global security,” say authors Stewart Patrick and Kaysie Brown, who are both affiliated with the Center for Global Development. In their independent, comparative assessment of donor governments’ efforts to prevent state failure and promote peace and recovery in war-torn states, they show how painfully difficult this challenge can be. The donor community has lately come to realize that they must not only do things differently, but they must do different things, they point out. As a result, individual governments now strive to integrate their priorities and policies into a “whole of government approach,” simultaneously addressing goals of poverty alleviation, accountable governance, stability and security. Analyzing the recent experiences of seven leading donors—the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, Germany, France and Sweden—Greater than the Sum of its Parts underscores the tensions inherent in the effort to define goals, coordinate mechanisms and mobilize adequate resources more strategically. While noting the shortcomings of existing approaches, the authors also call attention to promising developments and offer useful suggestions for bridging gaps among development, defense and diplomatic communities.

Falling Behind: International Scrutiny of the Peaceful Atom
Henry D. Sokolski, Editor
Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College

Are the nuclear safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) effectively blocking proliferation? Is the Agency able to achieve its nuclear material accountancy mission and find a balance between expanding the use of nuclear energy while making sure it does not turn into bombs? These critical questions currently face the United States and other like-minded nations interested in nuclear nonproliferation, as the potential worldwide expansion of nuclear power makes the IAEA’s pledge to keep these programs peaceful increasingly difficult to keep. This timely book presents the conclusions of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, which commissioned numerous studies on the effectiveness of the safeguard system then held a series of expert conferences aimed at analyzing its problems and proposing improvements. Observing that the Agency was already falling behind on its accountancy mission, the Center has compiled a series of critical steps (based on the studies, discussed in detail here) to be taken in the next two to five years—from drawing a clearer distinction between what can and cannot be safeguarded, to establishing default actions against noncompliance.

The Paradox of a Global USA
Edited by Bruce Mazlish, Nayan Chanda and Kenneth Weisbrode
Stanford University Press

“What is at issue is not whether we should support or oppose globalization but how we should respond to it as a reality, how we should manage it and its consequences.”
— from the Foreword by Strobe Talbot

Globalization in the United States is a paradox because, while it is arguably the most powerful actor on the global stage, the U.S. often seems determined not to live in the world it is helping to create. So writes Bruce Mazlish, MIT professor of history, emeritus, in the discussion of American exceptionalism that introduces this wide-ranging collection of essays examining a global America. With contributions from a distinguished group of scholars representing such fields as political science, international relations, sociology and media studies, the book tackles the subject within several distinct areas: the relationship between globalization and Americanization; present U.S. policy and cultural perspectives (including religion and media) and the impact of the military and of terrorism. While disagreements and differing emphases can be found throughout, the authors share a basic realization that the United States’ position of power makes its ability to deal with globalization of greater-than-ordinary importance, even though its struggles are those all countries of the present global epoch must endure.

The Amputated Memory
by Werewere Liking; translated by Marjolijn de Jager
The Feminist Press

Combining prose and poetry, this original “song novel” tells the coming-of-age story of a girl from Cameroon who, despite being victimized by her family and her culture, finds a way to reclaim her sense of self. Winner of the Noma Award for an outstanding book published in Africa, The Amputated Memory was recognized as “a deeply felt presentation of the female condition in Africa; and a celebration of women as the country's memory." Author Werewere Liking was born in Cameroon in 1978 and for the past 30 years has lived in the Ivory Coast, where she established the Village Ki-Yi, a self-supporting center for the performing and fine arts. She is a singer, dancer, actor, playwright, songwriter and author of two earlier books.

The Swing Voter in American Politics
William G. Mayer, Editor
Brookings Institution Press

Who are swing voters and why do candidates court them, consultants target them and pundits speculate endlessly about which way they’ll lean? Learning more about swing voters “contributes something new and valuable to election studies, by reminding us that in the context of an election campaign, not all voters are equal, and that voters will receive attention according to their expected payoff,” claims editor William G. Mayer, associate professor of political science at Northeastern University. Using a wealth of sources, including data from American National Election Studies along with well established national polls and surveys, Mayer and his cadre of political scientists and pollsters track the traits and habits of swing voters through six decades of national and local elections. They investigate party switchers, analyze decision-making styles, search for trends and common factors among the undecided and the unpersuadable and evaluate whether swing votes do actually decide elections. Along the way they find intriguing answers to key questions on voter identity, beliefs and behavior from which they paint an unprecedented picture of this influential political group.

From Mercenaries to Market: The Rise and Regulation of Private Military Companies
Edited by Simon Chesterman and Chia Lehnardt
Oxford University Press

Private military companies are commercial firms offering military services ranging from combat and military training and advice to logistical support. Credited with turning around conflict in Sierra Leone and shifting the balance of power in the Balkans, these firms play an increasingly important role in armed conflicts, UN peace operations and in providing security for unstable states. Iraq, for instance, has seen tens of thousands of private contractors on the ground. The growing use of private military companies and their transition from traditional mercenaries to market-driven, state-sanctioned entities raises potentially troubling questions about the interrelationship of regulation and market forces. This book, which includes contributions from top legal and foreign policy experts, focuses on issues of governance, analyzing the current legal framework and the needs and possibilities for stricter regulation in the years ahead. Four key questions are addressed: Why and how is regulation now a challenging issue? What problems have led to a call for regulation: What regulatory norms and institutions currently exist and how effective are they? What is the market’s role in regulation? In their conclusion, the editors predict a growing market for such private operators and recommend a pragmatic approach to governance that draws on international law, while balancing commercial and public interests, voluntary and imposed regulation. “In the absence of such a regime,” they warn, “the marketplace of war will continue to be regulated only by bankruptcy and death.”