The Foreign Service Journal, November 2005

F O C U S N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 5 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 43 Organizing U.S. Foreign Aid: Confronting the Challenges of the Twenty-first Century Carol Lancaster and Ann Van Duesen, Brookings Institution Press, 2005, $16.95, paperback, 78 pages. While the amount of foreign assis- tance has increased in recent years, the way it is orga- nized and delivered by the government has become increasingly fragmented and chaotic. The result is a crisis of inefficiency in the use of this important foreign policy tool. Here, two experts provide some keen observations and offer guidance on the critical choices facing American policy-makers, drawing on, among other things, insights into how other donor govern- ments have dealt with these challenges. Grasping the Nettle: Analyzing Cases of Intractable Conflict Chester A. Crocker, Fen Osler Hampson and Pamela Aall, eds., United States Institute of Peace Press, 2005, $22.50, paperback, 432 pages. The world is still troubled by a group of conflicts — from Kashmir to Colombia, the Korean Peninsula and the Middle East — that seem destined to never end. Surprisingly, aside from the apparent futility of media- tion, they offer many lessons. The case studies exam- ined in this book give us insights into the sources of intractability and such facets of mediation and conflict management as how to gain leverage, when to engage and disengage, how to balance competing goals, and whom to enlist to play supporting roles. Chester A. Crocker, a former assistant secretary of State for African affairs, is the James R. Schlesinger Professor of Strategic Studies at Georgetown University. Does Foreign Direct Investment Promote Development? Theodore H. Moran, Edward M. Graham and Magnus Blomström, eds., Center for Global Development, 2005, $19.77, paperback, 411 pages. What is the impact of foreign direct investment on development? The answer is cru- cial for policy-makers in developing and developed countries, and central to the debate about globaliza- tion. Here is a collection of essays reflecting the cut- ting edge of research on FDI and host-country eco- nomic performance. Editor Theodore H. Moran holds the Marcus Wallenberg Chair at the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, and is founder and director of the Landegger Program in International Business Diplomacy. The Quest for Viable Peace: International Intervention and Strategies for Conflict Transformation Leonard R. Hawley, Jock Covey and Michael J. Dziedzic, eds., United States Institute of Peace Press, 2005, $22.50, paperback, 302 pages. An exploration of the nationbuilding process with international operations in Kosovo as the point of ref- erence, The Quest for Viable Peace offers valuable guidelines for the conduct of such operations in the future. “Presenting an excellent set of essential strate- gies for building durable peace by means of interven- tion, this volume is a prodigious, extremely high-quali- ty, valuable work,” says retired FSO and former ambas- sador Robert B. Oakley. Leonard R. Hawley was a deputy assistant secretary of State during the Clinton administration. Continued on page 44