Kevin Stilley

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June 25, 2008 by kevinstilley

Fixing Failed States: A Framework for Rebuilding a Fractured World, by Ashraf Ghani and Clare Lockhart

In the following video U.N. advisers to Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani and Clare Lockhart discuss their latest book, Fixing Failed States: A Framework for Rebuilding a Fractured World.

Here are what some of the reviewers are saying about the book:

“Clear, taut language makes it accessible at almost any level of education…a roadmap to a groundbreaking new solution to this most pressing of global crises.” –United Press International

“Ashraf Ghani is a practitioner turned theoretician. Drawing on his background at the World Bank and as the first post-Taliban finance minister of Afghanistan, he together with Clare Lockhart develops a comprehensive framework for understanding the problem of state-building. He argues persuasively that this will be the central challenge underpinning world order in our globalized age, and offers practical solutions for meeting it.” –Francis Fukuyama, author of State-Building: Governance and World Order in the 21st Century

“This book is an important and timely alarm bell for the world’s next crisis-and proves that no one knows more about how states function (and don’t) than Ghani and Lockhart. We ignore their remedies at our peril.” –Hernando de Soto, author of The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else

“Fixing Failed States provides a brilliantly crafted and extraordinarily valuable analysis of what makes states fail and what makes them succeed. Everyone concerned about improved governance-and particularly public officials at all levels in industrialized, emerging and developing nations alike-will benefit enormously from reading this and studying the great insights it provides.”–Robert Hormats, Vice Chairman of Goldman Sachs (International)

“Ashraf Ghani and Clare Lockhart have filled a critical gap in our understanding of development, security and state-building. By combining an insightful analysis of weak and failed states with a clear-eyed proposal rooted in practical experience, the authors provide the international community with both a better understanding of the challenges we face and a solution.” -Gayle Smith, Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress and former Senior Director for African Affairs at the National Security Council

“Ashraf Ghani has held one of the toughest jobs on earth: the Finance Minister responsible for the reconstruction of Afghanistan. This experience grounds the analysis of failed states in a rare sense of realism. Here, he and Clare Lockhart cover the full array of problems that beset failed states, which range far beyond the conventional remit of development agencies.” –Paul Collier, author of The Bottom Billion

“The authors…offer a persuasive critique of the ill-conceived, incoherent “aid complex” run by the U.N. and other agencies, which, they argue, undermines and supersedes weak states instead of stabilizing them.” –Publishers Weekly

“Ashraf Ghani played a central role in the design and implementation of the post-Taliban settlement in Afghanistan, serving as UN adviser to the Bonn process and as Finance Minister during Afghanistan’s Transitional Administration. He has worked at the World Bank and taught at Johns Hopkins and Berkeley universities. He has been nominated for the job of Secretary General of the United Nations and considered for the job of President of the World Bank. He chairs the Institute for State Effectiveness.

“Clare Lockhart is Director for the Institute for State Effectiveness. She has worked for the World Bank, the United Nations and advised the Government of Afghanistan government in Kabul on its strategy and programs from 2002 to 2005. She advises countries and international organizations on state-building and has written widely on the topic.”

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Afghanistan, International Relations, Politics, public policy

April 21, 2008 by kevinstilley

Support Our Troops

This week I was privileged to have a hero set through one of my classes. He was a soldier, the husband of one of my students, home for a short leave before returning to Iraq. Yes, I consider him a hero. I consider all of our soldiers heroes who put their lives on the line to protect freedom and democracy.

I am appalled by the behavior towards our soldiers of many of those who disagree with the war in which we now find ourselves engaged. It is possible to debate whether or not the war on terror which is being fought in Iraq and Afghanistan is a just war. Honorable people can disagree. However, honorable people should honor our troops regardless of their opinion of the war.

On the other hand, I am also impressed by the tremendous outpouring of support from every imaginable source; school children send letters of support, communities provide care for family members left here at home, books are collected and mailed, and prayers are offered up to God for their protection and well-being.

Many businesses with social consciences have also participated in supporting our troops. One such business is Larson Electronics located in Kemp, Texas which operates magnalight.com . They have been donating hid lights to units in Iraq which are charged with clearing IEDs at night.

On Sunday’s This Week television show, John McCain stated that Americans are not so concerned about how long we stay in Iraq as they are about the loss of life. I am grateful to Larson Electronics for doing what they can go help prevent the loss of American lives.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Afghanistan, Blog, Iraq, War

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