Heather Selma Gregg's Books

Building the Nation

Missed Opportunities in Iraq and Afghanistan

By: Heather Selma Gregg

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Building the Nation

Missed Opportunities in Iraq and Afghanistan

By: Heather Selma Gregg

Building the Nation draws from foreign-policy reports and interviews with U.S. military officers to investigate recent U.S.-led efforts to “nation-build” in Iraq and Afghanistan. Heather Selma Gregg argues that efforts to nation-build in both countries focused more on what should be called state-building, or how to establish a government, rule of law, security forces, and a viable economy. Considerably less attention was paid to what might truly be called nation-building—the process of developing a sense of shared identity, purpose, and destiny among a population within a state’s borders and popular support for the state and its government. According to Gregg, efforts to stabilize states in the modern world require two key factors largely overlooked in Iraq and Afghanistan: popular involvement in the process of rebuilding the state that gives the population ownership of the process and its results and efforts to foster and strengthen national unity. Gregg offers a hypothetical look at how the United States and its allies could have used a population-centric approach to build viable states in Iraq and Afghanistan, focusing on initiatives that would have given the population buy-in and agency. Moving forward, Gregg proposes a six-step program for state and nation-building in the twenty-first century, stressing that these efforts are as much about how state-building is done as they are about specific goals or programs.

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Page Count

297

Publisher

Potomac Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

1640121404

ISBN 13

9781640121409

The Path to Salvation

Religious Violence from the Crusades to Jihad

By: Heather Selma Gregg

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The Path to Salvation

Religious Violence from the Crusades to Jihad

By: Heather Selma Gregg

In the wake of 9/11, policy analysts, journalists, and academics have tried to make sense of the rise of militant Islam, particularly its role as a motivating and legitimating force for violence against the United States. The general perception is that Islam is more violence-prone than other religions and that scripture and beliefs within the faith, such as the doctrines of jihad and martyrdom, demonstrate the inherently violent nature of Islam. Here, however, Heather Selma Gregg draws comparisons across religious traditions to investigate common causes of religious violence. The author sets side-by-side examples of current and historic Islamic violence with similar acts by Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, and Hindu adherents. Based on her findings, Gregg challenges the assumption that religious violence stems from a faithÆs scriptures. Instead, Gregg argues that religious violence is the result of interpretations of a religionÆs beliefs and scriptures. Interpretations calling for violence in the name of a faith are the product of individuals, but it is important to understand the conditions under which these violent interpretations of a religion occur. These conditions must be considered by identifying who is interpreting the religion and by what authority; the social, political, and economic circumstances surrounding these violent interpretations; and the believability of these interpretations by members of religious communities.

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Page Count

283

Publisher

Potomac Books, Inc.

Published Date

ISBN 10

1612346618

ISBN 13

9781612346618

Building the Nation

Missed Opportunities in Iraq and Afghanistan

By: Heather Selma Gregg

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Building the Nation

Missed Opportunities in Iraq and Afghanistan

By: Heather Selma Gregg

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

297

Publisher

Potomac Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

1640121404

ISBN 13

9781640121409

Book's by Heather Selma Gregg

Building the Nation

Building the Nation

The Path to Salvation

The Path to Salvation

Building the Nation

Building the Nation

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