This book models the trade-off that rulers of weak, ethnically-divided states face between coups and civil war. Drawing evidence from extensive field research i

Examines the role and structure of the state in Africa. Amongst the areas considered are: the genesis of the state; the decision to pursue conservative moderniz

Introduction -- Framing the problem of the state in Africa -- Historical and theoretical context -- The state in Africa in an era of capitalist globalization :

In 2019, Islamic State lost its last remaining sliver of territory in Syria, and its Caliph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was killed. These setbacks seemed to herald t

This study brings Africa into the mainstream of studies of state-formation in agrarian societies. Territorial integration is the challenge: institutional linkag