Ashraf Ghani

I came to the book with great expectations. Ashraf Ghani was a failed leader, but I did not let this prejudice me. He had considerable experience in a difficult nation and difficult circumstances.
The first few chapters provided useful insights into why some nations face problems. He and his co-author do not spare international agencies like The World Bank or the UN. Very little of the promised aid reaches the intended beneficiaries. However, while they gave a few examples of how states like Singapore became successful, they glossed over the details.
I would have preferred one case of success, like Singapore, one of a European nation like Germany and have these contrasted with one or two examples of failed states.
In the end, the book read like a consultant's report.… (mehr)

I find it tremendously difficult to push through a book on fixing failed states from a corrupt American educated Afghan politician/criminal who was given a trove of American national treasure in human sacrifice, resources and cash and immediately folded, or failed as a state if you would, within days of our epic failure at American closure in Afghanistan. Mr. Ghani should hang his head for attempting to exploit circumstances while shirking his responsibilities as the legal president of his country.… (mehr)

Seeking Solutions

With the slew of foreign policy books our there currently, this might very well be one that you should get. Unlike a lot of academic texts that I read, the authors, Ashraf Ghani and Clare Lockhart have combined decades of real-world state-building experience which gives them the legitimacy in under-taking such an audacious book on their proposal to fix failed states.

The thesis of the book hinges on the following: The difference between the successful states and the failed states is the "sovereignty gap". This gap is caused by the combined failures of failed governance and the misplaced aid complex resulting in the inability for these "failed states" to provide the basics of human sustenance.

Ghani-Lockhart give brief (if flawed) summaries of some success and failures of state-building efforts in the past. And use those case studies as a synthesis to present their 10-point plan to bridge the "sovereignty gap".

The strongest part of the book is their framework for successful state-building. These include: Rule of Law, Monopoly on the Legitimate Means of Violence, Administrative Control, Management of Public Finances, Investments in Human Capital, Creation of Citizenship Rights through Social Policy, Provision of Infrastructure Services, Formation of a Market, Management of Public Assets, Effective Public Borrowing.

Though Ghani-Lockhart claim not to prescribe to an ideology, their 10-point plan is remarkably similar to the Modernization theory. Though their intentions are benign, the sociological effects and the people that benefit most are usually not ordinary citizens. The biggest examples of where Modernization theories have failed to improve the human condition are where existing non-industrial agrarian economies exist and the attempts to collectivize them.

The short historical summaries are mostly grossly oversimplified. One such example is Ghani-Lockhart's description of Sudan as a failed state. They explain that "Sudan could have tackled its centuries-old history of regional disparities and turned itself into an economic powerhouse for the area" (p.71). Not once do Ghani-Lockhart bring up the Anglo-Egyptian condominium that colonized Sudan for almost 100 years, or mention colonization as the biggest contributing factor in isolating the Islamic north from the Christian south.

Another reason that makes me uncomfortable about Ghani-Lockhart's proposal is the overly corporativist top-down approach that Ghani-Lockhart describe. Yes, they say that legitimacy must come from the citizens. However, they make no mention of the highly successful bottom-up efforts such as Muhammad Yunus' Grameen Bank, or Wangari Maathai's Green Belt Movement. They are equally dismissive of the Millennium Development Goals to end poverty and unnecessarily apologetic for the "Washington Concensus" despite it's dramatic failures.

Last but not least, their star case studies of Singapore and Dubai actually undermine several points of their 10-point plan. Singapore is essentially a police-state, with heavy censorship and no accountability, they have a benevolent 1-party dictatorship where the remarkable economy has been carefully planned and state-controlled. Dubai, while less authoritarian, exploits cheap foreign labor (mostly from Pakistan), and its wealth is fueled currently by market speculators which cannot last long-term. Another shining star that Ghani-Lockhart uses is the case of Ireland. Yet, they state themselves that Ireland's transformation took place in a "context in which quite sophisticated systems of government were already firmly in place" (p.205), which does not describe many of the current failed states.

Having said all that, the reason why this book is one of the most important books of 2008 is because of it's boldness and vision. It seeks to facilitate discussion and debate and Ghani-Lockhart genuinely desire to improve the human condition. They are forward-looking, seeking a third way between the forces of economic liberalization and economic nationalism: "The question is not 'state' or 'market' but the allocation of functions and tasks between them and the establishment of a framework within which each actor can operate effectively and cooperate over the long term" (p.152).… (mehr)