State Failure

Courtesy Reuters

Imran Khan at a press conference in Islamabad, July 2018.

Athit Perawongmetha / Reuters

Pakistan's Sham Election

This election, like virtually every previous election in Pakistan, will have few consequences for Pakistan’s behavior at home or abroad.

C. Christine Fair

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Civil & Military Relations Jul 27, 2018 Snapshot

Pakistan's Sham Election

This election, like virtually every previous election in Pakistan, will have few consequences for Pakistan’s behavior at home or abroad.

C. Christine Fair

ISIS Dec 22, 2017 Snapshot

The Jihadist Threat Won't End With ISIS' Defeat

Numerous additional Salafi jihadist organizations will be ready to take ISIS' place as long as the conditions that gave rise to such groups persist.

Barbara F. Walter

Civilian children stand next to a burnt vehicle during clashes between Iraqi security forces and ISIS in the northern Iraq city of Mosul, June 2014.

Civil & Military Relations Nov 17, 2017 Snapshot

Mugabe Is Gone, But Zimbabwe's Dictatorship Will Remain

The next leader of Zimbabwe, probably former Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa or his one of his proxies, is likely to continue Mugabe’s tyranny.

John Campbell

Zimbabwean General Moyo speaks on state broadcaster ZBC during the coup, November 2017.

Political Development Jul 24, 2017 Snapshot

Afghanistan's Deadly Identity Politics

Unless Washington backs reforms aimed at improving Afghan governance, any hope for improvement is misplaced.

Patricia Gossman

Afghans pray for the victims of a May car-bombing in Kabul, June 2017.

Refugees & Migration Jul 20, 2017 Snapshot

Europe's Libya Problem

Nearly 11,000 migrants arrived on Italian shores in just the last five days of June, with the vast majority embarking from the Libyan coast.

Sabina Henneberg and Mieczyslaw P. Boduszynski

Migrants after being picked up by the Libyan coast guard, July 2017.

From the Archives Jul 7, 2017 Snapshot

Mediation in Venezuela Is Doomed to Fail

To stop Venezuela’s slide into chaos, Latin American states need to develop a coordinated policy that pressures the Venezuelan government into respecting human rights.

Christopher Sabatini

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro at a military parade in Caracas, July 2017.

Economics March/April 2016 Review Essay

Hunger Games

In his new book, Cormac O Grada argues persuasively that famines can result from bad data, and he emphasizes the importance of gathering accurate information on crop...

Douglas Gollin

State Failure Oct 27, 2014 Video

Foreign Affairs Focus: Max Boot on Small Wars

Washington doesn’t have the luxury of avoiding long wars against brutal insurgencies. Instead, it needs to figure out how to fight them better.

Humanitarian Intervention November/December 2014 Comment

The Good War?

More than 13 years after 9/11, the Afghan war is far from over, even if Washington insists that the U.S. role in it will soon come to an end. Three recent books help...

Peter Tomsen

Locked and loaded: Taliban fighters in Afghanistan, January 2014.

War & Military Strategy November/December 2014 Comment

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A Hard Education

Few would argue that Washington’s approach to the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq has been a success worth emulating. So the most important question now is what can...

Gideon Rose and Jonathan Tepperman

A school boy, carrying a backpack, walks past burning fuel tankers, October 7, 2010.

Political Development January/February 2014 Essay

The Rise and Fall of the Failed-State Paradigm

As the recent era of interventionist U.S. state building draws to a close, it is time to acknowledge it was flawed not only in execution, but also in conception....

Michael J. Mazarr

A broken globe in an abandoned school in Ukraine.

Strategy & Conflict Mar 25, 2013 Snapshot

The Real Reason Putin Supports Assad

Vladimir Putin's unwavering support for the Assad regime in Syria is best explained by his dread of fracturing states and Sunni Islamism -- fears he confronted most...

Fiona Hill

Strategy & Conflict Feb 20, 2013 Snapshot

Does France Have an Exit Strategy in Mali?

France's intervention in Mali has so far succeeded, but expelling Islamist militants was the easy part. Now Paris must turn its tactical achievements into a lasting...

Etienne de Durand

Energy November/December 2012 Comment

Revenge of the Kurds

Iraqi Kurdistan is reveling in its newfound oil wealth and growing more estranged from the violent and dysfunctional central government in Baghdad. Yet statehood --...

Joost R. Hiltermann

A masked Turkish Kurdish man jumps over a bonfire during a rally celebrating Newroz, which marks the arrival of spring and the new year, in Istanbul March 22, 2015.

War & Military Strategy Oct 9, 2012 Letter From

Rocket-Propelled Syria

As Syria’s civil war drags on, the opposition is scrambling to get its hands on weapons funneled into the country by Gulf states and independent gun-runners. But rival...

Rania Abouzeid

Post-Conflict Reconstruction Sep 11, 2012 Snapshot

Turkey Is No Partner for Peace

The United States is counting on Turkey to help oust the Syrian regime and bring about a pluralistic government. But Ankara, whose Sunni leadership sees Syria’s...

Halil Karaveli

Law & Institutions May/June 2012 Essay

Mafia States

Around the world, criminal organizations and governments are fusing to an unprecedented degree, blurring the distinction between national interests and what suits the...

Moisés Naím

Humanitarian Intervention Jan 6, 2012 Snapshot

What it Will Take to Intervene in Syria

More and more outsiders are calling for a humanitarian intervention in Syria to stop Bashar al-Assad's killing sprees. But for this to work, Syria's various opposition...

Michael Weiss

Security Dec 22, 2011 Postscript

Kim Jong Un Takes the World’s Worst Job

The suddenness of Kim Jong Il’s death has sparked fears of instability on the Korean peninsula and beyond. Fearing a messy collapse, Beijing and Washington are trying...

Jennifer Lind

War & Military Strategy Dec 15, 2011 Snapshot

Washington's Colonial Conundrum in Afghanistan

In Afghanistan, the United States faces a choice: either establish a permanent administrative and security presence, or stand back and risk the country becoming a...

Ivan Arreguín-Toft

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State Failure

Pakistan's Sham Election

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Pakistan's Sham Election

The Jihadist Threat Won't End With ISIS' Defeat

Mugabe Is Gone, But Zimbabwe's Dictatorship Will Remain

Afghanistan's Deadly Identity Politics

Europe's Libya Problem

Mediation in Venezuela Is Doomed to Fail

Hunger Games

Foreign Affairs Focus: Max Boot on Small Wars

The Good War?

A Hard Education

The Rise and Fall of the Failed-State Paradigm

The Real Reason Putin Supports Assad

Does France Have an Exit Strategy in Mali?

Revenge of the Kurds

Rocket-Propelled Syria

Turkey Is No Partner for Peace

Mafia States

What it Will Take to Intervene in Syria

Kim Jong Un Takes the World’s Worst Job

Washington's Colonial Conundrum in Afghanistan

Latin America Needs Better Judges

Global Conflict This Week: Major Taliban Offensive in Afghanistan

Nord Stream 2: Is Germany ‘Captive’ to Russian Energy?

Anglophone Crisis in Cameroon was Decades in the Making

The Link Between Foreign Languages and U.S. National Security

Aung San Suu Kyi’s Major Speech on Rakhine State

Creating a State Department Office for American State and Local Diplomacy

The Global Cost of the Eurozone’s 2012 Fiscal Coordination Failure

Publications

U.S. Gun Policy: Global Comparisons

The Rohingya Crisis

Ten Most Significant World Events in 2017

State Failure

Pakistan's Sham Election

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Foreign Affairs Focus: Max Boot on Small Wars