The Era of Nation Cultivation

Nikolas K. Gvosdev
The concept of nation building has brought nothing but trouble. It's time for a paradigm shift.

Serbian Transition Worries West

Daniel Serwer
The new Serbian president's nationalist politics and checkered past worry Brussels and Washington. Why they should take a pragmatic approach.

O'Malley's Tax Misstep

Robert W. Merry
The Maryland governor's tax scheme won't solve the state's problems, but it will send businesses packing.

General McChrystal and Academic Freedom

Paul R. Pillar
How to foster free, unbiased discourse in the classroom and beyond.
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Politics

535 Secretaries of State

Ted Galen Carpenter

Congress running foreign policy. The president usurping war powers. This is not what the Founding Fathers intended.

Society

A Second-Best President for Egypt

Khairi Abaza

Two certainties about Egypt's elections: the winner won't be anyone's first choice, and he will have a hard road ahead.

Economics

China Digs in to Afghanistan

Raffaello Pantucci
Alexandros Petersen

Washington is packing its bags, but Beijing looks set to stay in AfPak for the long haul.

Security

Reaching Iran through South Africa

Eliot Pence
Mehrun Etebari

Why the most successful route to reaching a nuclear deal with Tehran may be through Pretoria.

Global Governance

Negotiations with Iran: What Has Changed?

Justin Logan

There's little cause for optimism as a new round of nuclear talks begins.

Security

The Hagiography of Mr. Holbrooke

Ted Galen Carpenter

Richard “The Bulldozer” Holbrooke left a deep mark on U.S. foreign policy. Yet this collection of essays by his friends and admirers, which gushes...

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The nation-building paradigm creates a mindset that it is “easy” to achieve success with limited cost and within a short period of time, making such missions irresistible to launch, until they run up against the hard realities on the ground.
The Era of Nation Cultivation

Regional Headlines

Afghanistan

How to Keep Afghanistan Secure

Zalmay Khalilzad

Washington has been repeating the same mistakes in Afghanistan for 30 years. Obama is poised to continue the cycle.

Russia

Set South Korea Free

Doug Bandow

Washington has kept the ROK dependent for too long. Let Seoul increase its military efforts.

Kuwait

Saudi Arabia's More Perfect Union

Bruce Riedel

The house of Saud is meeting resistance as it pushes other gulf monarchies toward a closer union.

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May 26, 2012