Author: Seth Kaplan | Journal of Democracy

Seth Kaplan is a business consultant to companies in developing countries as well as a foreign-policy analyst. His book Fixing Fragile States: A New Paradigm for Development (2008), critiques Western policies in places such as Congo (Kinshasa), West Africa, Syria, and Pakistan, and lays out a new approach to overcoming the problems they face. For more information, see www.sethkaplan.org.

July 2008, Volume 19, Issue 3

The Remarkable Story of Somaliland

Seth Kaplan

Emerging from one of the world’s most notorious failed states, Somaliland has become an oasis of relative democratic stability in the troubled Horn of Africa. What does its story teach us about democratic state-building?

Democratization in Africa: Progress and Retreat

At a time when democracy seems to be in retreat in many parts of the world, Africa presents a more mixed picture. Democratization in Africa: Progress and Retreat brings into focus the complex landscape of African politics by pairing broad analytical surveys with country-specific case studies.