David Carment

Yiagadeesen Samy

Stewart Prest

This book provides theoretical clarity about the concepts of failed and fragile states, which have emerged strongly since the 9/11 attacks. Recent contributions often see the fragile state as either a problem of development or of security. This volume argues that that neither perspective on its own is a sufficient basis for good policy. In a wide-ranging treatment, drawing on large samples as well as case studies, the authors create an alternative model of the fragile state emphasizing the multidimensional, multifaceted nature of the "fragile state problematique". On the basis of their model and empirical evidence, they then derive a number of policy-relevant insights regarding the need for contextualized and ongoing country analysis, the perils and pitfalls of unstructured development assistance, and the need to move whole-of-government approaches from the realm of rhetoric to reality. In offering both a synthesis of existing research and an innovative approach to understanding the fragile state, this volume will be of great interest to students of war and conflict studies, risk, conflict management, and international relations in general. It will also be of use to practitioners in policy circles and to NGOs.

Bridging the Gap between Theory and Policy

Security, Development and the Fragile State

Christopher Sands

This book, the 32nd volume in the Canada Among Nations series, looks to the wide array of foreign policy challenges, choices and priorities that Canada confronts in relations with the US where the line between international and domestic affairs is increasingly blurred. In the context of the Canada-US relationship, this blurring is manifest as a cooperative effort by officials to manage aspects of the relationship in which bilateral institutional cooperation goes on largely unnoticed. Chapters in this volume focus on longstanding issues reflecting some degree of Canada-US coordination, if not integration, such as trade, the environment and energy. Other chapters focus on emerging issues such as drug policies, energy, corruption and immigration within the context of these institutional arrangements.

Sovereignty or Shared Institutions?

Canada–US Relations

Albrecht Schnabel

Offers a critical evaluation of existing and emerging approaches to applied conflict prevention that involve nontraditional actors ranging from the corporate sector and NGOs to regional and multilateral economic and political organizations. The volume suggests best practices for individuals within these organizations to use the array of political, economic, social and developmental instruments available to them.

Opportunities and innovations. Volume 2

Conflict Prevention from Rhetoric to Reality

Associate Professor and Director of the Center for Security and Defence Studies David Carment

Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Policy

Robert I. Rotberg

Although Canada is regarded as one of the least corrupt countries, this volume draws on wide ranging evidence and innovative research from scholars around the world to challenge this assumption. Corruption, defined as the "abuse of entrusted power for private gain," is often understood as being caused by internally motivated greed leading to prohibited acts in contravention of laws, rules and regulations. It can also be defined as "dishonest action that destroys people’s trust." These traditional forms of corruption pose problems for Canada in a variety of policy domains, as well as "institutional corruption" evidenced by deception and financial inconsistency that undermine the effectiveness and transparency of policy objectives. This volume contains chapters that investigate various areas of corruption in Canada, ranging from corruption amongst the First Nations, to the armed forces, to the delivery of foreign assistance. It also offers suggestions to reduce future outbreaks of corruption. Each chapter provides detailed empirical analysis evidenced through real world examples that highlight key lessons amidst the numerous challenges posed by corruption. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Canadian Foreign Policy Journal.

Canada's Corruption at Home and Abroad

State fragility is a much-debated yet underinvestigated concept in the development and international security worlds. Based on years of research as part of the Country Indicators for Foreign Policy project at Carleton University, Exiting the Fragility Trap marks a major step toward remedying the lack of research into the so-called fragility trap. In examining the nature and dynamics of state transitions in fragile contexts, with a special emphasis on states that are trapped in fragility, David Carment and Yiagadeesen Samy ask three questions: Why do some states remain stuck in a fragility trap? What lessons can we learn from those states that have successfully transitioned from fragility to stability and resilience? And how can third-party interventions support fragile state transitions toward resilience? Carment and Samy consider fragility’s evolution in three state types: countries that are trapped, countries that move in and out of fragility, and countries that have exited fragility. Large-sample empirical analysis and six comparative case studies—Pakistan and Yemen (trapped countries), Mali and Laos (in and out countries), and Bangladesh and Mozambique (exited countries)—drive their investigation, which breaks ground toward a new understanding of why some countries fail to see sustained progress over time.

Rethinking Our Approach to the World’s Most Fragile States

Exiting the Fragility Trap

The fiery cross, or, A warning voice to the sons and daughters of Caledonia [by D. Carment].

Fen Osler Hampson

Norman Hillmer

This year's Canada Among Nations examines the problem of American hegemony from a Canadian perspective. The dilemmas are familiar, but free trade and terrorism have given them an unaccustomed intensity, all at a time when Canadian foreign and defence policy and their makers seem stuck in neutral, unable to sustain past glories, and apparently incapable of fresh thinking.

Coping with the American Colossus

Milana V. Nikolko

This book examines the relationship between post-Soviet societies in transition and the increasingly important role of their diaspora. It analyses processes of identity transformation in post-Soviet space and beyond, using macro- and micro-level perspectives and interdisciplinary approaches combining field-based and ethnographic research. The authors demonstrate that post-Soviet diaspora are just at the beginning of the process of identity formation and formalization. They do this by examining the challenges, encounters and practices of Ukrainians and Russians living abroad in Western and Southern Europe, Canada and Turkey, as well as those of migrants, expellees and returnees living in the conflict zones of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Moldova. Key questions on how diaspora can be better engaged to support development, foreign policy and economic policies in post-Soviet societies are both raised and answered. Russia’s transformative and important role in shaping post-Soviet diaspora interests and engagement is also considered. This edited collection will appeal to students and scholars of diaspora, post-Soviet politics and migration, and economic and political development.

David Carment

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