By Robert D. Lamb ■ It’s common to talk about the evolution of machines in comparison to humans — the Turing test, when will computers be as intelligent as humans, can robots be conscious like humans, etc. But there’s a forgotten tradition of research (called cybernetics) that compares humans, machines, and human societies to see what […]
Read more...Category: Systems & Complexity
Coming Soon: Long Version of “Dual-System Problem”
For years, I’ve been researching, writing, speaking, advising, and ranting about systemic problems in foreign-policy making, especially with regards to complex conflicts, stabilization and reconstruction, and international development. Today, Melissa Gregg and I submitted the full draft of our joint monograph, “The Dual-System Problem in Complex Conflicts,” arguing that policy systems today are fundamentally unadapted to the complex […]
Read more...Unlearned Lessons and the Dual-System Problem (SSI commentary)
By Robert D. Lamb ■ My most recent commentary focuses why policy systems so often fail to institutionalize lessons learned with respect to conflict, fragility, and development—and what the research community can do differently to help policy makers overcome barriers to effectiveness. > Read the full commentary here
Read more...Announcing the Foundation for Inclusion
For the past year or so, in my spare time, I have been quietly working on a new initiative with the intention of launching it soon after the election, whatever the outcome. Throughout my professional and volunteer career, I’ve worked in various ways on issues of exclusion – exclusion from political systems, from economic opportunity, […]
Read more...Preparing for Complex Conflicts (USIP brief)
By Robert D. Lamb and Melissa R. Gregg ■ The United States and its partners have not been unambiguously successful in most of the conflicts they have been engaged in since 9/11. In some cases, conflicts that had seemed settled erupted again under different guises. Combatants that had appeared defeated emerged under different names. Partners […]
Read more...Grateful to Have Had John Steinbruner as a Mentor
John Steinbruner invited me to meet with him at his house a couple of weeks ago. After a short chat, I left with a pretty clear sense he was nearing his end. And yet his mind was as sharp as always, even if his speech couldn’t keep up. John was the kind of scholar who had […]
Read more...How Will We Learn? (CSIS keynote)
By Robert D. Lamb ■ In my final keynote address as CSIS’s conflict director (and my most popular talk to date), I reviewed decades of “lessons learned” in peace and conflict to reveal 15 themes the peacebuilding and stabilization field can’t seem to get right. “When will we learn?” is the wrong question. The more useful question is: “How will […]
Read more...Rethinking Legitimacy and Illegitimacy: A New Approach to Assessing Support and Opposition across Disciplines (CSIS report)
By Robert D. Lamb ■ This report introduces a new assessment framework for legitimacy and illegitimacy that governments, businesses, and other organizations can use to better understand the sources and dynamics of support or opposition for any entity, policy, or program. It includes an intellectual history of the concept of legitimacy, summarizes the literature, introduces […]
Read more...South Asia Regional Dynamics and Strategic Concerns: A Framework for U.S. Policy and Strategy in South Asia, 2014–2026 (CSIS report)
By Robert D. Lamb, Sadika Hameed, and Kathryn Mixon ■ Once the United States withdraws most or all of its forces from Afghanistan, what issues are likely to continue to be of concern to U.S. policymakers in South Asia? What regional dynamics are likely to affect their ability to achieve policy priorities there? While the United […]
Read more...All of My Afghanistan and Pakistan Research in One Place
Quoting from my program’s page at CSIS summarizing our four years of research on Afghanistan and Pakistan: Since 2010, the Program on Crisis, Conflict, and Cooperation (C3) has studied security, governance, and politics in Afghanistan and Pakistan to find potential paths to stability and prosperity. One line of research, focusing on service provision and governance, studied […]
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