From the Publisher
“Theoretically insightful and empirically detailed, this study deftly analyzes the complex and contradictory impacts of contemporary intervention on the sovereignty of ‘the intervened’. Through the careful unpacking of key concepts such as ownership and capacity-building, Wilén teases out crucial – and hitherto unresolved – tensions in the peacebuilding orthodoxy. An important work.” (Timothy Donais, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Global Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University)
“This is an important book that addresses the difficult issue of how international intervention affects sovereignty and the legitimacy of government. Dealing with the three cases of Burundi, Congo and Liberia, Wilén skilfully uses empirical evidence to dissect the language of the international community with regard to local ownership, sovereignty and legitimate action. At the same time these empirical cases shed light on the theoretical underpinnings of international intervention in Africa.” (Professor Paul Jackson, Birmingham University)
“This study interrogates how statebuilding and liberal peacebuilding have had many inintended consequences, not least on the legitimacy of international claims about their "responsibility to protect" and in parallel on local expectations of sovereignty and local ownership. In Africa both of these sets of claims have been somewhat exposed over the last decades, as this valuable and detailed study ably documents in especially rich and insightful empirical detail.” (Oliver Richmond, Professor at the School of International Relations, University of St Andrews)
“This important book explores the contradictory logic behind peacebuilding interventions. It intrigues the reader by critically examining the paradoxical problem of stabilizing sovereignty through intervention. Based on original fieldwork, this thoroughly researched book provides penetrating empirical insights as well as a stringent theoretical contribution to the debate about challenges and chanegs of key concepts, such as sovereignty and peacebuilding interventions and their normative underpinnings." (Annika Bjoerkdahl, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Lund University)
