Statebuilding in the Middle East and North Africa : the aftermath of regime change / Irene Costantini.

"This book examines the regime changes in Iraq and Libya to unravel the complexity of statebuilding in countries emerging from authoritarianism and conflict in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Framed in a comparative study of post-2003 Iraq and post-2011 Libya, the book examines changes in key state dimensions--representation and political authority, security, and economic wealth creation and distribution--in a continuous dialogue with past trajectories in these two countries. To grasp the nature and degree of these changes, the mechanisms of state formation are explored in light of a statebuilding agenda that, in its application from Iraq to Libya, has adapted to different political prerogatives. The analysis of Iraq and Libya serves the book's ultimate goal to address the debate on statebuilding from a regional (MENA) perspective and to lay the ground for the study of other contemporary cases undergoing radical and violent process of changes, such as in Syria and Yemen. The book grapples with problems associated with the difficult process of transition from authoritarianism through conflict and towards peace by focusing on the state, its structure and function. The work is informed by a large quantity of materials collected over the past five years, including secondary literature, policy papers and reports, and semi-structured interviews with key informants on Iraq and Libya. This book will be of much interest to students of statebuilding, Middle Eastern studies, peace and conflict studies, and International Relations in general"-- Provided by publisher.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

On state transformation -- The state in the Middle East and North Africa -- Iraq and Libya : under the iron fist -- From "armed liberalism" and R2P to statebuilding -- Gone is the "one man in command" -- From military regimes to militia's rule -- Rentier states of war -- Conflict and the state in the Middle East and North Africa -- State functions, means, territory and institutions -- Statebuilding and state formation -- Conflict and the state in the MENA region.