The fiscal year (FY) 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, which includes a title to reform the Department of Defense (DoD) security cooperation, has far-reaching implications for U.S. defense interests in Africa. As the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee notes, "the Department of Defense continues to place greater emphasis on security cooperation, to include building partner capacity." The term "building partner capacity" (BPC) widens the focus of security cooperation as a whole-of-government effort, and makes clear congressional interest in treating security cooperation as a defense institution building endeavor. In response to the law, this book examines and recommends specific steps the DoD can take to build partner capacity successfully in Africa and meet congressional direction.

With the end of the Cold War, a popular parlor game in foreign ministries, think tanks, and academia has been to develop a theory of international relations that best explains the new international order. Although there is widespread agreement that the United States is the world's most powerful country in military, economic, and diplomatic terms, and is likely to remain so for the foreseeable future, there is little agreement as to how the rest of the world will react to America's lead. Concepts such as "balancing," "bandwagoning," "buck-passing," and "free riding," to name just a few, have been advanced and debated. And although none presents a unified field theory, each explains some aspect of international relations. Theory has an even more difficult time explaining the relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom (UK), especially its remarkable endurance over the past 6 decades. The U.S.-UK partnership flourished during World War II, deepened during the long twilight struggle...

Looking at partisan groups such as the FLN, the Vietcong, and the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan, Ouroboros: Understanding the War Machine of Liberalism assesses how they convert their knowledge of self into tactical and strategic advantages that nullify the Clausewitzian advantages in the distribution of military power. Reynolds argues that liberalism has a global transformative mission that requires an ideologically democratic core and an illiberal periphery. By assessing the ouroboros, which sees action as definitive and final, the book explains how it powers the new strategy of preemption that intervenes in the periphery, ostensibly to set up democratic, security-centered adjuncts.

African countries need to improve the performance of their public sectors if they are going to achieve their goals of growth, poverty reduction, and the provision of better services for their citizens. Between 1995 and 2004, the Bank provided some $9 billion in lending and close to $900 million in grants and administrative budget to support public sector capacity building in Africa. This evaluation assesses Bank support for public sector capacity building in Africa over these past 10 years. It is based on six country studies, assessments of country strategies and operations across the Region, and review of the work of the World Bank Institute, the Institutional Development Fund, and the Bank-supported African Capacity Building Foundation.

From a Norwegian perspective, and by focusing on the Special Operations Forces component within the Norwegian Armed Forces, this book provides a scholar-practitioner’s perspective on how to increase the strategic utility of different types of military efforts in an SSA context. The overarching project encompasses a wide range of elements for understanding the contemporary security environment and, in particular, how the military component fits into the strategic picture within an international context for small states. It shows that small states must be aware of the different limitations for existing strategic options for the various actors involved. It also outlines the strategic utility of potential niche capabilities, and how elements within the Norwegian Armed Forces can take on a strategic, enabling role for Norway, bilateral partners, and even coalitions in future conflicts. Small State Irregular Warfare in the Twenty-First Century serves as both a guide and a handbook on how small states might utilize SSA as an instrument of national power to meet national strategic objectives.

This book explores new perspectives on how to improve the chances of success regarding capacity building in developing and emerging countries. Drawing on lessons learned in the course of six decades of capacity building research and practice, it identifies the required conditions for the success of capacity building efforts, and suggests that a radical change in mindset has become a critical aspect in developing countries. In addition, the book discusses capacity building in connection with entrepreneurship (especially female entrepreneurship), transnational diaspora remittances, and combating corruption, which it considers to be essential drivers of sustainable development in developing and emerging countries. The book’s contributing authors represent the leading minds in capacity building research and practice, and include researchers from prestigious universities in North America, Europe and Africa, as well as international development experts from institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, African Development Bank, and African Capacity Building Foundation. All authors have considerable expertise regarding capacity building issues, and represent 26 emerging and developing countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Caribbean Islands, North America and Europe.