ABSTRACT
Introduction The growth of the Maoist insurgency in Nepal around the turn of the century confounded the world by defying several layers of conventional wisdom about politics and society.2 The Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-M) controlled a large swath of territory within a decade of launching an insurgency. The armed conflict led to the death of more than 13,000 people, in addition to many other costs of civil war such as destruction, displacement and gross human rights abuses (see chapter 15 for discussion of consequences of the conflict). Eventually, the Maoists successfully negotiated a peace settlement in their favor and went on to win the postwar election.
