Seth D. Kaplan is a leading expert on fragile states. He is a Professorial Lecturer in the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University, Senior Adviser for the Institute for Integrated Transitions (IFIT), and consultant to multilateral organizations such as the World Bank, U.S. State Department, U.S. Agency for International Development, and OECD as well as developing country governments and NGOs.

In this episode, we talk about: 

1. The difference between social life in Western versus non-Western countries
2. How Seth was drawn to the study of fragile states
3. How strong relationships in a country are correlated with economic development and peace
4. Why addressing key social problems requires starting at the neighborhood-level
5. The relationship between life expectancy and one’s neighborhood
6. The beauty of living in a thriving and close-knit neighborhood
7. How modern society’s idea of happiness promotes loneliness
8. On boosting the collective self-efficacy in an area
9. Five factors that help communities thrive
10. How religion can play a role in community building
11. The need for translocal organizations 
12. Cultivating college programs to develop civic leaders

To learn more about Seth’s work, you can find him at: https://sethkaplan.org/ 

You can order his book Fragile Neighborhoods here: https://www.amazon.com/Fragile-Neighborhoods-Repairing-American-Society/dp/0316521396/

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