State building

Professor Stephen Krasner of Stanford University explores some of the problems with state building and maps out various theories of development. He describes, in particular, the challenges of implanting rule of law and democratic norms and finds that these may only take root under certain conditions, in certain countries.

About the speaker:

Stephen Krasner is the Graham H. Stuart Professor of International Relations at Stanford University. He is also a senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and a fellow of the Hoover Institution.

Dr. Krasner received a BA in history from Cornell University, an MA in international affairs from Columbia University and a PhD in political science from Harvard. From February 2005 to April 2007 he served as the Director of Policy Planning at the US State Department. While at the State Department, Dr. Krasner was a driving force behind foreign assistance reform designed to more effectively target American foreign aid. He was also involved in activities related to the promotion of good governance and democratic institutions around the world.

Before coming to Stanford in 1981, Dr. Krasner taught at Harvard University and UCLA. At Stanford, he was chair of the political science department from 1984 to 1991, and he served as the editor of International Organization from 1986 to 1992.

He has been a fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences (1987-88) and at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin (2000-2001). In 2002 he served as director for governance and development at the National Security Council. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

His major publications include Defending the National Interest: Raw Materials Investment and American Foreign Policy (1978), Structural Conflict: The Third World Against Global Liberalism (1985), and Sovereignty: Organized Hypocrisy (1999). Publications he has edited include International Regimes (1983), Exploration and Contestation in the Study of World Politics (co-editor, 1999), Problematic Sovereignty: Contested Rules and Political Possibilities (2001), and Power, the State, and Sovereignty: Essays on International Relations (2009).