Armed State Building

Paul D. Miller brings his decade in the U.S. military, intelligence community, and policy worlds to bear on the question of what causes armed, international state-building campaigns by liberal powers to succeed or fail.

Paul D. Miller is a political scientist in the National Security Research Division at the RAND Corporation. He is also an Adjunct Professor of International Security Affairs at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C.

In this excellent study, Miller brings to bear scholarly rigor and his recent experience as the U.S. National Security Council's director for Afghanistan and Pakistan to assess U.S. and UN efforts to rebuild failed states through armed intervention. Drawing on evidence from such missions in Germany after World War II and more recent attempts in Nicaragua, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, Miller argues there is no master strategy that will work in all instances.... His book displays an admirable clarity in its evidence and analysis, although it is worth wondering whether powerful Western states can reliably behave as carefully as Miller advises.

Dr. David A. Anderson (Lt. Col., U.S. Marine Corps, retired) and William E. Odom:

In recognizing the complex nature of the subject matter, the author does a commendable job in advancing the body of knowledge in a meaningful way. His efforts certainly enhance the ongoing debate on how to best address conflict and post-conflict state building. Of special note, in appendix A of the book, Miller does an exceptional job in summarizing all United Nations- and U.S.-led state building interventions since 1898. This appendix alone is of value to a wide array of readers. As a complete body of work, this book is best read by conflict theory scholars, military and interagency professionals, international relations/affairs scholars and practicioners, developmental economists, and military historians.

Robert I. Rotberg, Harvard Kennedy School, author of Transformative Political Leadership: Making a Difference in the Developing World:

Paul D. Miller's tough-minded, rigorously argued analysis of state failure and state rebuilding shatters standard policy shibboleths and challenges us to rethink appropriate responses to outlaw regimes.

James Dobbins, Director of the International Security and Defense Policy Center, RAND National Defense Research Institute, former Assistant Secretary of State for Europe, Special Assistant to the President, and Ambassador to the European Community:

Armed State Building is an unusually successful blend of scholarship and practical experience. Paul D. Miller's work is innovative and his conclusions sound. This book makes a major contribution to the study of counterinsurgency and postconflict stabilization and will appeal to policymakers and military strategists.