ABSTRACT
Chapter 10 , Conclusion weaves together the main themes examined throughout the book: how the means, functions, institutions and territory of the state evolved in Iraq and Libya after regime change; the contradictory encounter between statebuilding and state formation that gave rise to the trapped states of Iraq and Libya; and the prospects of statebuilding in conflict-affected countries in the MENA region. The main contribution of the book structured around the identification of trapped states in Iraq and Libya, indicates that the contradictory interaction between statebuilding and state formation in post-2003 Iraq and post-2011 Libya has not been capable of resetting state–society relations. Political authority and representation, security, and wealth creation and distribution have undergone a process of change, but they are yet to produce a social contract between the state and the Iraqi and Libyan societies.
