Seth D. Kaplan

Dr. Seth D. Kaplan is a former visiting fellow with the Mercatus Center’s Program on Pluralism and Civil Exchange. Dr. Kaplan is also 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 organizations such as the World Bank, USAID, State Department, and OECD.

He is the author of the U.S. State Department’s Political Transitions Analysis Framework (2020) and co-author of the United Nations – World Bank flagship report Pathways for Peace: Inclusive Approaches to Preventing Violent Conflict and USAID’s Fragility Assessment Framework (2018). He was the lead author, coordinator, and managing editor of both an eight country comparative study for the United States Institute of Peace on social contract formation in fragile states and a 100-page flagship publication for IFIT articulating a new approach to regime transitions in post-conflict and post-authoritarian countries. Dr. Kaplan is the author of two books on fragile states—Fixing Fragile States: A New Paradigm for Development (Praeger Security International, 2008); and Betrayed: Promoting Inclusive Development in Fragile States (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013)—as well as one book on human rights and culture, Human Rights in Thick and Thin Societies: Universality Without Uniformity (Cambridge University Press, 2018). Dr. Kaplan has also published widely in publications such as The Washington Quarterly, Stanford Social Innovation Review, The American Interest, National Affairs, Journal of Democracy, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times.

Fellowship focus:

• Understanding fragilities in local communities that impede pluralism
• Approaches to community building to enhance a pluralistic etho