James Dobbins is a senior fellow and Distinguished Chair in Diplomacy and Security at the RAND Corporation. He is the author of The RAND History of Nation Building, America's Role in Nation-Building: From Germany to Iraq, The Beginner’s Guide to Nation-Building and Foreign Service: Five Decades on the Frontlines of American Diplomacy.
A former US diplomat who helped oversee nation-building efforts in Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan, Dobbins served as a special envoy for Afghanistan immediately after 9/11.
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