Abstract
Abstract This article discusses the development of social science and policy thinking about “nation-building” and state-building from the 1960s to the present. It examines in detail the recommendations of the recent Army field manual, FM 3–07 “Stability Operations”, demonstrating that the manual offers very little in the way of concrete guidance for policy-makers. This article argues that the shift from “modernization” theory to “globalization” theories did not lead to substantive re-thinking of the processes and difficulties of state-building. Various social science approaches to state-building are discussed and compared with the analysis of FM 3–07. The article argues that what is required for effective policy is detailed local knowledge linked to an appreciation of the larger historical processes of state-building. The notion of development and conflict “traps” and “humps” is suggested as a promising way to analyze state-building.
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