ABSTRACT

This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book aims to explore what makes weak states viable in a global era. The research design has been framed with a key interest in the countries that have experienced violent conflict, but many insights offered in the individual contributions merit wider relevance in the context of discussions on the ambiguous nature of contemporary war and peace, and the transformation of the role of the state in relation to globalization. Closson and Ganev place an emphasis on private gain as the motivating force driving networks as an agent of state weakening, downplaying their interest in formal modes of political competition. The book has aimed to further the conceptual debate on weak state by focusing on its persistence and resilience, and thus to contribute to methodology and policy in addressing more effectively, to paraphrase Giddens, this child of globalisation'.