Post-conflict reconstruction: From Extremism to Peaceful Co-existence

Book Review

Abstract

Post-Conflict Reconstruction provides a nuanced analysis of the multidimensional factors underlying state fragility and extremism. The book treats state fragility as a composite phenomenon consisting of “security, political, socio-economic and external factors.” These factors manifest as five major features of “persistent security dilemma, dysfunctional economy, institutional weakness and legitimacy crisis, inability to manage change and space for external interference.” The book provides a deep study of the correlation between state fragility and violent extremism with respect to six country cases, viz., Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan and Yemen. Although, the author identifies three types of state fragility based upon the absence of one of the three major state competencies, namely, “authority, legitimacy and capacity,” yet the reality of state fragility in terms of the country cases discussed turns out to be more variegated than the three-minus- one forms of state fragility. The author‟s critical treatment of these country cases throws up some intriguing insights into the nature and mechanism of state fragility.