Subversive Statecraft: The International Politics of Weak Statehood

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Session Description

Policymakers worry that “ungoverned spaces” threaten security and development. Why do such spaces exist beyond the authority of the state? “Crippling Leviathan" argues that foreign subversion undermines state authority. Enemy states empower insurgents to destabilize the state and create ungoverned space. This kind of foreign subversion is a powerful instrument of modern statecraft – one that is less visible and less costly than conventional force but has deleterious effects on governance in the target state.

The book marshals a wealth of evidence to demonstrate the harmful consequences of foreign subversion. It combines statistical analysis using an original measure of state authority with in-depth studies of Russian, Malaysian, and Thai subversion. The evidence is powerful and persuasive: foreign subversion weakens the state.

“Crippling Leviathan” challenges the conventional wisdom on statebuilding, which has long held that conflict promotes the development of strong, territorially consolidated states. It argues instead that conflictual international politics prevent state development and degrade state authority. This implies that more conflict with not be a panacea to weak statehood. Particularly for IR scholars, the book also illuminates the use of subversion as an underappreciated but important feature of modern statecraft.

This roundtable brings together top experts on statebuilding, state capcaity, civil war, and territorial contestation to discuss this new book on the foreign sources of weak statehood.

Sub Unit

• Division 17: International Collaboration

Chair

• David Stasavage New York University

Presenters

• David Stasavage New York University

• Melissa M. Lee Princeton University

• Cameron G. Thies Michigan State University

• Douglas Lemke Pennsylvania State University

• Kathleen Gallagher Cunningham University of Maryland, College Park

• Brett Ashley Leeds Rice University

• Hillel David Soifer Temple University