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| Author: | Robert I. Rotberg |
|---|
Publisher: Council on Foreign Relations Press
Release Date: April 2007
56 pages
ISBN 978-0-87609-399-3
$10.00
Council Special Report No. 27
While Nigeria has the potential to be a successful case study of economic and political reform and religious cooperation, it faces serious problems, including corruption, internal unrest, an HIV/AIDS epidemic, and a struggling economy. Nigeria, the United States, and the international community all have a vested interest in ensuring that the country addresses these challenges and becomes a peaceful, stable democracy. As Robert I. Rotberg details in the latest Council Special Report, a crucial step in this process is for Nigeria to conduct free, fair, and credible gubernatorial and national elections in April 2007.
Nigeria: Elections and Continuing Challenges, sponsored by the Council’s Center for Preventive Action, suggests immediate and medium-term courses of action for Nigerians and members of the international community. Some of Rotberg’s policy recommendations, such as election monitoring, are focused on helping Nigeria avoid a near-term breakdown of democracy. Others, such as strengthening health care infrastructure and improving security, look more broadly to the future and tackle the country’s fundamental challenges of governance and development. As this report makes clear, the stakes are large: The upcoming elections will dramatically affect this critical country’s prospects—which in turn will dramatically affect the future of all of Africa.
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Robert I. Rotberg is director of the Program on Intrastate Conflict and Conflict Resolution at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. He is also the president of the World Peace Foundation. He was previously a professor of political science and history, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; academic vice president, Tufts University; and president, Lafayette College. He is member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and is the author and editor of numerous books and articles on U.S. foreign policy, Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean.
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