1. Introduction; 2. Atta Mohammad Noor, the Son of Balkh; 3. Gul Agha Sherzai, the neo-Khan of Nangarhar; 4. Ismail Khan, the Emir of Herat and Juma Khan Hamdard, the Wandering Wali; 5. Conclusion.
This book argues that Afghani warlords can under certain conditions become effective governors on behalf of the state.
Dipali Mukhopadhyay is an Assistant Professor in the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, New York and a member of the Arnold A. Saltzman Institute on War and Peace Studies. She has been conducting research in Afghanistan since 2007 and made her first trip to the country in 2004.
'Mukhopadhyay brings the much abused category of 'warlord' to life
in this innovative and path breaking study of regional politics in
Afghanistan. It provides the previously missing analytic rigor in a
comparative study of the fraught relationship of a weak state
center and its unruly peripheries.' Thomas Barfield, Professor of
Anthropology, Boston University
'This is an outstanding volume not only for the courageous
fieldwork on which it is based and its subsequent empirical
insights, but because it provides a needed alternative to outdated
notions of state building. It challenges the too often accepted
idea that power equals centralization. It also takes our focus away
from normative, and nominal structures to the real informal
processes behind any kind of authority. Third, it once again shows
that the search for political perfection may be the worst enemy of
basic governance. Should be read by anyone interested in 21st
century politics.' Miguel Angel Centeno, Musgrave Professor of
Sociology, Princeton University
'Warlords, Strongman Governors, and the State in Afghanistan could
not be timelier. This book is among the few that take seriously the
dynamic processes of state-building in Afghanistan and the
resilience of its current and surprisingly resilient phase.
Mukhopadhyay provides a keen analysis of how and under what
conditions state authority benefits from local warlord strengths in
terms of personal reputation, charisma and skill as a patron.
Through extensive field research in Afghanistan, Mukhopadhyay shows
how politics in Afghanistan really works, and reveals concrete and
specific information on how the convergence of politics at the
center and in the provinces makes the Afghan state stronger in
significant ways. This book is essential reading for anyone
interested in contemporary strategies of state-building generally
and in this important process in this critical region.' William
Reno, Professor of Political Science, University of Wisconsin
'Few terms are as pejorative in common usage as 'warlord', and
warlordism has been a source of great suffering in many settings.
In Warlords, Strongman Governors, and the State in Afghanistan,
however, Dipali Mukhopadhyay argues that Afghan warlordism has had
highly variable dynamics and consequences: while some strongmen
have brought suffering and instability, others have actually
advanced the cause of political order in a weak state, with
systematic variations in local conditions accounting for the
difference. She builds her case on a foundation of richly detailed
field research, with results that pose important implications for
counterinsurgency, governance reform, and theories of political
development. Her provocative analysis will cause both scholars and
policy makers to re-examine their views on this critical topic.'
Stephen Biddle, Professor of Political Science and International
Affairs, The George Washington University
'Mukhopadhyay draws on extensive field research in this study of
the relationship between provincial governors and the Afghan state.
Challenging the traditional view of warlords as reckless and
irresponsible governors, she suggests that many have actually
played a crucial role in extending the influence of the central
government into rural Afghanistan.' Survival
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