Is the phenomenon of state failure better understood through a focus on the regional context? To what extent may studies of regional security benefit from a focus on the capacities and vulnerabilities of the states involved? This title addresses these questions.

The theory of failure and the failure of theory: ‘state failure’, the idea of the state and the practice of state building. Strong chieftaincies out of weak states, or elemental power unbound. Corruption and conflict: Contrasting logics of collective action. Colliding state-building projects and regional insecurity in post-soviet space: Georgia versus Russia in South Ossetia. Transforming West African militia networks for postwar recovery. Regional security: Demarcating theoretical and empirical borders. Strong states in a troubled region: Anatomies of a Middle Eastern regional conflict formation. State strength on the Ethiopian border: Cross-border conflicts in the horn of Africa. Natural resources, international regimes and state-building: Diamonds in west Africa. Re-examining the ‘colour revolutions’: The turn of the tide from Belgrade to Ulan Bator. Caught in the middle? Regional perspectives on Afghanistan. Power, security and regional conflict management in Southern Africa and South Asia. State responses to transnational challenges: The evolution of regional security organisations in Africa. Webs of war: Managing regional conflict formations in West Africa and Central Africa. List of Contributors. EDITORIAL BOARD. Troubled regions and failing states: Introduction. Comparative social research. Comparative social research. Copyright page.