ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book shows that the process of state weakening is inseparable from globalization. The focus on transnational networks is a way to concretize the analysis of the role globalization plays in the perpetuation of state weakness as opposed to approaching it as a single massive force or movement. The book explores how elite networks in the context of post-communist transition pursue their predatory project of extraction from the state which enfeebles the state's bureaucratic apparatus. Post-conflict political, economic and social rehabilitation is a complex process that takes place against weak local capacity to counteract regressive social dynamics put into motion in the course of the conflict. The book traces the historical roots of the inability of the Afghan state to consolidate itself. It examines foreign intervention in post-conflict state-building, probing a specific set of policies with detrimental consequences.
