This book studies two world regions beset with extreme corruption, organized crime extending into warlordism, the disintegration of human services and economic institutions, and the breakdown of public institutions and the state. The contributors compare processes of state breakdown and collapse in the two world regions, as well as democratization, economic reform, ethnicity, and the status of women, comparing the consequences of post-communism with those of post-colonialism.

Contributors:  Mark R. Beissinger, Crawford Young, Achille Mbembe, Vadim Volkov, William Reno, Charles H. Fairbanks, Jr., David Holloway, Stephen John Stedman, Donald Rothchild, Lilia Shevtsova, Richard Joseph, Peter J. Stavrakis, Peter M. Lewis, Gail W. Lapidus, Francis M. Deng, Aili Mari Tripp, Ghia Nodia