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{
  "authors": [
    "Marc Lynch"
  ],
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  "centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace"
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Source: Getty

Other

Failed States and Ungoverned Spaces

Failed states across the Middle East and North Africa will pose distinctive challenges for U.S. policy in the next administration.

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By Marc Lynch
Published on Oct 25, 2016
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Middle East

The Middle East Program in Washington combines in-depth regional knowledge with incisive comparative analysis to provide deeply informed recommendations. With expertise in the Gulf, North Africa, Iran, and Israel/Palestine, we examine crosscutting themes of political, economic, and social change in both English and Arabic.

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Source: ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science

State failure and proxy war have consumed key Arab states such as Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Yemen, with massive humanitarian consequences. Local power struggles have been exacerbated by regional and international interventions. The next American administration must act to resolve these wars and assist the reconstruction of shattered states. Rather than new military interventions, the United States should focus on the international enforcement of military de-escalation to accomplish these goals.

Read the full article at the ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.

About the Author

Marc Lynch

Former Nonresident Senior Fellow, Middle East Program

Marc Lynch was a nonresident senior fellow in Carnegie’s Middle East Program where his work focuses on the politics of the Arab world.

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Marc Lynch
Former Nonresident Senior Fellow, Middle East Program
Marc Lynch
Political ReformSecurityMilitaryForeign PolicyMiddle EastNorth AfricaLibyaIraqSyriaYemen

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

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