Political Economy of Statebuilding: Power after Peace

by Berdal; Mats

• ISBN13: 9780415604789
• ISBN10: 0415604788
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-10-15
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

This volume examines and evaluates the impact of international statebuilding interventions on the political economy of post-conflict countries over the past 20 years.Through detailed comparative analysis of key statebuilding policies and case studies, this handbook analyzes how international interventions have shaped political and economic dynamics and structures ' both formal and informal ' and what kind of state, and what kind of state-society relations have been created as a result. The volume aims to offer a more nuanced understanding of the complex impact of statebuilding practices on post-conflict societies, and of the political economy of post-conflict statebuilding.The book systematically examines the impact of statebuilding policies through the analysis of ten statebuilding interventions (ranging from governance conditionalities and assistance to full-fledged international administration), and of three cross-cutting thematic areas: institution-building and representation; economic reform; and the approaches of selected international statebuilding actors (i.e. the UN or the IFIs). Questions examined by the chapters include:How have statebuilding policies affected the relationship between formal and informal economic and political institutions?How are international statebuilding policies mediated through local political structures?How have outside interventions affected the balance between different political groups in a post-conflict country?To what extent have statebuilding policies led to a change or to the resurfacing of old elites? What policies have contributed to this, and why? This handbook will be of mcuh interest to students of statebuilding, humanitarian intervention, post-conflict reconstruction, political economy, international organisations and IR/Security Studies in general.