WHY STATES RECOVER:

Based on fieldwork in over 40 countries, Why States Recover incorporates first-hand interviews with leadership to disaggregate various state failures and identify instances of recovery – from Latin America, Asia, Europe and Africa – while answering a key question: what role is there for insiders and outsiders?

State failure takes many forms, from the collapse of central authority à la Somalia to the subversion of democracy in Venezuela and Zimbabwe. Assessing why and how states fail is only half of the story, however. More important is pinpointing why they recover. GREG MILLS is director of the Johannesburg-based Brenthurst Foundation. He is widely published on international affairs, development and security, an adviser to African governments, a regular columnist for local and international newspapers, and the author of the best-selling books Why Africa is Poor – and what Africans can do about it (2010) and, with Jeffrey Herbst, Africa's Third Liberation (2012).