Expeditionary Economics doctrine holds that economic growth is a critical component of long-term stability, each enabling the other: development is impossible without stability and stability is unsustainable without economic growth. Moreover, the most effective path to growth in areas in conflict is to focus on forming firms that can generate rapid revenue growth and employment opportunities. While the Commander's Emergency Response Program (CERP) has advanced security and stability, its use as a tool of economic development has been criticized. Still, the U.S. military uses "money as a weapon system" and likely will continue to do so in future engagements. Based on 8 years of quantitative and anecdotal data, there are lessons to be learned on improving CERP. The authors examine the origins of CERP, as well as its successes and shortcomings as a tool for economic stabilization and security. Recommendations include engaging more effectively with local business and government leaders, improving collaboration with other coalition actors, increasing transparency, and placing emphasis on economic outcomes rather than process. Furthermore, while being cognizant of the security function of the program, CERP should support local entrepreneurs

The international security implications of failed and failing states are profound. To achieve stability requires a commitment from the international community to rebuild the host state and avert future conflict. Thus, successful stability operations require a long-term civil-military commitment, as evidenced by lessons from events following World War II and the Korean War. Smith and Shrimpton highlight key lessons from historical and recent nationbuilding interventions in nonpermissive environments, and urge Australia to give higher priority to preemptive strategies that help prevent conflict, and to holistic approaches that build sustainable stability. The authors argue that Australia's primary efforts should remain focused on its nearer geographic region, capitalizing on the interests, relationships, and benefits that proximity offers. This strategic approach to nationbuilding would enhance international security and reduce the prospects of international conflict in the Pacific region while strengthening Australia's contribution to regional stability.

Successful stabilization depends on the new regime developing a political network that distributes power and patronage throughout the nation, whether the power network manifests in democratic form, feudal form, or colonial form. In a decentralized regime, local leaders throughout the nation can compete for a share of power even if they are not affiliated with the faction that controls national power at the center. Thus, a decentralized system can create a broad class of local leaders in all communities who have a positive expected stake in defending the new political system. Yet the leading collaborators of a stabilization operation may endorse a system of narrow political centralization. Paradoxically, for the sake of expediency and convenience, such centralization may initially be welcomed by foreign interveners, although it may itself be destabilizing. Planning for a successful state-building stability mission requires a more expansive perspective and an understanding of the stability impact of the constitutional distribution of power.