Books published by Centre for Strategic & International Studies,U.S.

Twenty years ago, India launched its "Look East" policy. For most of those 20 years, Myanmar's isolation, mistrust between India and its neighbors, and poor infrastructure connectivity hindered the development of links between South and Southeast Asia.

The CSIS Working Group on Private-Sector Development in Fragile, Conflict-Affected, and Violent States identifies tools available to the international business community and the U.S. government to assist these countries, as well as the gaps in needed resources.

In a time of austerity, the U.S. government's reliance on the private sector for a range of services has declined for two consecutive years. Even so, real services contract spending in 2012 remains more than 80 percent above the level in 2000. This report examines contract factors, like competition, funding mechanism, and vehicle, while also looking at industrial base factors like vendor market share by size and top contractors by total services revenue.

After more than a decade of fighting in Afghanistan, the United States and its allies are set to transfer security responsibilities to Afghan forces in 2014. This transition poses many challenges, and much will depend on the future of Afghan politics, governance, corruption, development, security, and economics. How the United States manages the transition is vital for any hopes of creating a secure Afghanistan, as well as preventing the reemergence of the Taliban and other terrorist groups. The Afghan War in 2013 honestly assesses the benefits, costs, and risks involved in transition. It is essential reading for an in-depth understanding of the complex forces and intricacies of the United States¿ role in Afghanistan and the difficulties involved in creating a stable Afghanistan in 2014 and beyond. Afghanistan is still at war and will probably be at war long after 2014. At the same time, the coming cuts in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and cuts in military and civil aid, along with the country¿s fractious politics and insecurity, will interact with a wide range of additional factors that threaten to derail the transition. These factors, examined in this three-volume study, highlight the need to make the internal political, governmental, economic, and security dimensions of the transition as effective as possible. This will require a new degree of realism about what the Afghans can and cannot accomplish, about the best approaches to shaping the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), and the need for better planned and managed outside aid.

This report was produced by the CSIS Nuclear Consensus Working Group (NCWG) to assist the Obama administration in forging, during its second term, an enduring consensus about the U.S. nuclear posture.

One of the barriers to investing in Pakistan's private sector has been the perceptions of risk due to insecurity and corruption. This report suggests that opportunities for economic cooperation are hidden among those real risks.

This study endeavors to identify ground force options that are most important to the security of core U.S. interests in two key regions of the world: the Middle East and South Asia; and the Asia Pacific. It is meant to help the Department of Defense define future challenges risk as it relates to ground forces and identify and classify specific qualitative risks that could undermine future operational success.

Recent years have seen a considerable shift in the sources of financial assistance for global health activities. With the private sector as well as emerging economies joining the more developed nations as major players, the balance of power is changing, leading to a momentous shift in perceptions of "global health."

A contradiction sits at the core of U.S. biological threat prevention policy. Despite the U.S. government accepting the scientific and industrial costs of a domestic biosecurity system, it has not committed the diplomatic and financial resources needed to successfully promote the global adoption of similar systems.

This report analyzes contracting for products, services, and research & development (R&D) by the Department of Defense (DoD) and its key components.

The South China Sea is arguably one of the world's most dangerous regions, with conflicting diplomatic, legal, and security claims by major and mid-level powers. CSIS brings together an international group of experts to provide a diverse and wide-ranging set of perspectives on the region and to explore possibilities for future cooperation.

This report focuses on the institutional foundations that enable-or, at times, hinder-federated approaches to defense.

This report highlights challenges to Taiwan's ability to play a more active role in eight areas of international security: counterterrorism, law enforcement, maritime security, nuclear security, transportation security, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, human security, and cybersecurity.

Potential sales of billions of dollars of energy equipment produced by U.S. companies are at stake in the major economies of the region. They are expected to import as much as $16 billion worth of energy products over the next few years to power their economic growth. But unless the United States launches new initiatives to snare sizable shares of this investment, U.S. companies are unlikely to be major players in all this trade.

This report traces the evolution of Hamas's health care services from the movement's origins to its current role as the de facto government of Gaza.

This report examines police reform in the Americas and suggests a strategic approach--considering trends, the threat environment, available resources, institutional strengths and weaknesses, and leadership--that will permit U.S. assistance to be successful.

"A Report of the CSIS Americas Program In cooperation with The Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies National Defense University."

"A report of the CSIS Energy and National Security Program."

In the last few years, issues related to human rights, including encouraging the democratization of Muslim societies from the Middle East to Southeast Asia, have acquired great importance in shaping the character of U.S.-Muslim relations and U.S. policy toward Muslim countries. An important impetus behind this development were the tragic events of 9/11, which demonstrated the destructive potential of militant groups that use a distorted interpretation of Islam as justification for their actions. These events also led to a greater realization by the United States--and the West--that a lack of democracy and lack of respect for human rights have been contributory factors to the rise of militant Islam.Consequently, in its approach toward the Muslim world, the United States has emphasized the themes of human rights and democracy. Within the Islamic world, too, both secular and moderate Islamists have begun focusing on issues related to human rights. Although many conservative Muslims believe that Islam is incompatible with Western notions of democracy and human rights, reformist Muslim thinkers and activists maintain that a proper reading of Islamic injunctions and the ethical values underpinning those injunctions shows there is no such incompatibility. Complicating the debate is the fact that many Muslims--secular as well as conservative and reformist--doubt the seriousness of the U.S. commitment to the cause of human rights and democracy in the Muslim world, believing that the United States applies human rights'' standards selectively to suit its strategic and economic interests. Irrespective of the validity of these charges, they are part of the context of the U.S.-Muslim dialogue on human rights. And it is this complex dialogue that this volume seeks to advance.

Events in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Balkans have proved that failed and defeated states threaten the national security interests of the United States and the stability of entire regions. But success in addressing these threats clearly depends on more than military might; the post-conflict period is equally crucial. Case studies in this book examine the U.S. approach in Kosovo, East Timor, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, and Iraq. The book offers policy guidance on how to handle current reconstruction challenges and on building capacity to do a better job when America is inevitably called on to restore failed nations in the future.

This report tracks and analyzes trends in Chinese military strategy, force structure, and regional activity. Chinese perspectives on their military's role and development are featured, as well as the views of other relevant regional actors.