War Studies

Date of Publication: 2/03/2019 Description: What are Extralegal groups in the context of post-conflict societies? How can trade play a role in state building? And how do we define a ‘good’ state? These are just a few questions we discussed with Dr Christine Cheng, Lecturer in the DWS and author of the recent book, Extralegal groups in post-conflict Liberia: How trade makes the state’. In her latest book, Dr Cheng writes, ‘Where the state is weak and political authority is contested, where rule of law is corrupted and government distrust runs deep, extralegal groups can provide order and dispute resolution, forming the basic kernel of the state.’ Drawing on fieldwork and socio-historical analysis, Dr. Cheng explains how extralegal groups were incentivized to provide basic forms of governance as they attempted to form a stable commercial environment during Liberia’s transition from war to peace. Her recent book has highlighted many important questions around state formation and how the West should approach po