Ungoverned Spaces - 9780804770132

"This is an excellent work, practically extraordinary. It opens a new subject for courses, gnaws at the assumptions of IB theory, and throws a spotlight on crucial policy areas. It poses new demands for a reconceptualization of theory, is adventuresomely interdisciplinary, unbound by usual conventions, and breaks down the walls between established disciplinary approaches."---I. William Zartman, Peofessor Emeritus, The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced Inteenational Studies, Johns Hopkins University

"Ungoverned spaces, like those of the eastern Yemen or much of Somalia and Puntland. are inherently dangerous and reservoirs of potential terror. This imaginative book describes what could happen and does happen in such spaces and what alternative social structures should be employed to reduce threats from ungoverned places and failed states."---Robert I. Rotberc, Director, Program on Interstate Conflict and Conflict Resolution, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University

"Ungoverned spaces" are often cited as key threats to national and international security and are increasingly targeted by the international community for external interventions---both armed and otherwise. This book examines exactly when and how these spaces contribute to global insecurity, and it incorporates the many spaces where state authority is contested---from tribal, sectarian, or clan-based governance in such places as Pakistani Waziristan, to areas ruled by persistent insurgencies, such as Colombia, to nonphysical spaces, such as the Internet and global finance. Within this multiplicity of contexts, the book addresses a range of security concerns, including weapons of mass destruction, migrants, dirty money, cyberdata, terrorists, drug lords, warlords, insurgents, radical Islamist groups, and human privacy and security. Ultimately, Ungoverned Spaces demonstrates that state-centric approaches to these concerns are unlikely to supplant the many sites of authority that provide governance in a world of softened sovereignty.