Terrorists originating in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Somalia routinely attack American and European homelands, embassies, and militaries. The response to this reality is seen in the growing presence of Western troops and defense assets in fragile states.

However, Western efforts to help fragile states have persistently failed. There is no one-size-fits-all answer. Competitive elections, free market reforms, and social development spending are not always the solution.

The only way to give these places a chance at peace and prosperity is to rethink how development really works.

Foreign Policy Analyst Seth Kaplan, author of the new book Fixing Fragile States: A New Paradigm for Development, has spent over 15 years helping multi-national corporations such as Procter & Gamble, Compaq Computers, and Komatsu, tailor their strategies and operations to fit the conditions of developing countries.

Kaplan has lived and worked in Nigeria, Turkey, Japan, China, Taiwan, Israel, France, and the United States, and has travelled to over 60 countries. He is a witness to what really works in various regions around the world, as well as a witness to destructive roles fragile states play in harming their neighbors and the international community.

In Fixing Fragile States, Kaplan:

• Dissects the reasons why some states prosper and others sink into poverty and violence.

• Lays bare the fatal flaws in current policies.

• Examines alternatives to Western attempts to reform these benighted places — options that help their peoples build governments and states that actually fit the local landscape.

• Analyzes case studies of seven deeply dysfunctional places — Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Syria, Somaliland, Azerbaijan, Bolivia, and West Africa — and explains how even the most desperate of these can be transformed.