International Governance of War-Torn Territories: Rule and Reconstruction

leondumoulin.nl: International Governance of War-Torn Territories: Rule and Reconstruction (): Richard Caplan: Books.
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• International Governance of War-Torn Territories: Rule and Reconstruction
• International Governance of War-Torn Territories, Rule and Reconstruction | IWPR
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• International Governance of War-Torn Territories

With its detailed and shrewd analysis, it is hard to see how Caplan's measured account will be bettered.

His scorecard on these undertakings is by no means negative, but the reader is left in no doubt about the problems, including the pitfalls of managing an effective transfer of power to the local people. Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide.

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Choose your country or region Close. Ebook This title is available as an ebook. To purchase, visit your preferred ebook provider. Oxford Scholarship Online This book is available as part of Oxford Scholarship Online - view abstracts and keywords at book and chapter level. Freedman, Foreign Affairs "Policy-makers in both capitals should read Caplan's excellent study before embarking on any new military adventures.

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TAs are thrown together at the last minute, because the UN simply has not the resources for major contingency planning. Indeed, resource constraints are remarked on throughout the book as a major impediment to almost all TA activities. Increased donor and great power support of the UN would help but is hardly forthcoming, so shoestring operations will likely continue as the norm. It undercuts local legitimacy, because TA staffs are removed from accountability. Further, such undemocratic practices are at odds with the democracy TAs are trying to build.

One accountability mechanism Caplan pushes hard is an ombudsman to whom locals can take grievances. Others include informal mechanisms like the media or press. Finally, TA withdrawal is highly contested, because benchmarks of success are so disputed.

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Elections, once a final act of TAs, have lost their luster as badly balkanized legislatures portend further violence after the internationals exit. Most TAs need far more time than donors or neighbors will tolerate, so Caplan suggests follow-on missions but these ring of mission creep of the original TA and may simply replicate previous problems.

But Caplan is quick to note, correctly, that without TAs these already dismal areas would likely be far worse. TAs, for all their flaws, have brought some relief from the violence.

Given more resources and planning, they might function even more effectively in the future. It fills a gap in the literature. I know of no similar text. It is clearly for specialists, however.

The topic is quite narrow which is fine , so even most IR scholars will find it beyond their interest. Formal theorists may dislike the qualitative analysis but there are only a few cases on which to build, so a structured, focused comparison works well here.

I have only two criticisms. It takes the reader several chapters to start tracking this language easily. Second, the book needs more theory. A minor deficiency to be sure but a second edition with more cases and newer information might also include efforts to tie this excellent work to the larger IR edifice.

Oxford University Press,