ABSTRACT
The post-Cold War era has witnessed a remarkable growth in international efforts to assist in the rebuilding of states and societies affected by war and violent conflict. Many of these interventions have involved what has become known as statebuilding: “actions undertaken by international and national actors to establish, reform, or strengthen the institutions of the state and their relation to society” (Call 2008a: 5). 1 In a rich variety of settings and circumstances, international organisations and donor states have found themselves involved, to an unprecedented degree, in the creation and reform of representative political institutions, the strengthening of governmental capacity, the promotion of judicial reform and the liberalisation of economies. This book is concerned with one aspect of that experience in particular: the impact of state-building interventions on the political economy of war-torn societies. Our understanding of the “political economy of statebuilding” is discussed more fully below, suffice it to say here that an underlying concern throughout is with the impact of outside intervention on the complex relationship, in terms of power and influence, between formal and informal political and economic actors, groups and networks within war-torn and conflict-affected societies.
