Description
Book SynopsisIf you were to examine an 1816 map of the world, you would discover that half the countries represented there no longer exist. This book systematically examines the reasons why some states die while others survive, and the remarkable decline of state death since the end of World War II.
Trade ReviewWinner of the 2008 Best Book Award, Conflict Processes Section of the American Political Science Association "This excellent study begins with the counterintuitive fact that 'of all the states on the map of the world in 1816, nearly half no longer exist today.' The first part of the book details the history of state death, a modest contribution but one heretofore absent from scholarly analysis. More important are the contributions relating to explaining state death and charting the impact of changes in the international system of states... This is a first-rate book with importance for both international relations and geography scholars alike."--P. F. Diehl, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, for Choice "Given the importance of state death to theorizing about international politics, it is surprising that Tanisha Fazal is the first scholar to offer a systematic study of the phenomenon. The wait has been worth it, thought, because Fazal has written an excellent introduction to the topic."--Douglas Lemke, Political Science Quarterly "Fazal outlines a plausible mechanism for state death and supports it with a persuasive combination of statistics and well-executed case studies."--Alexander B. Downes, International History Review "State Death is well written. It is extremely interesting in that it attempts to systematically approach a subject that has barely been thought about in systematic terms to date. Its main strength is its almost textbook-like demonstration of how to approach a subject matter by devising a meticulous methodology, discussing and refining the data sets used, and combining quantitative analysis with qualitative case studies in a fruitful fashion... State Death presents an interesting and valuable argument developed in a methodologically creative way."--Mathias Albert, Perspectives on Politics "The title of the book promises much for scholars of genocide, and not only because it highlights 'state death' with its connotations of violence and ethnic destruction."--A. Dirk Moses, Journal of Genocide Research
Table of ContentsList of Figures ix List of Tables xi Acknowledgments xiii Chapter 1: Introduction 1 PART I: PATTERNS AND CAUSES Chapter 2: Definitions and Patterns 13 Chapter 3: Location, Location, and Timing 37 PART II: BUFFER STATE DEATH AND SURVIVAL Chapter 4: Quantitative Analysis of State Death 69 Chapter 5: Buffer State Death and Survival Prior to 1945 97 PART III: THE NORM AGAINST CONQUEST AND STATE DEATH AFTER 1945 Chapter 6: Resurrection153 Chapter 7: State Death and Intervention after 1945 169 Chapter 8: Conclusion 229 Appendix A. Revising the Correlates of War List of Members of the Interstate System 243 Appendix B. Variable Coding 259 Bibliography 273 Index 291
