Call, Charles T. & Vanessa Wyeth, eds, 2008. Building States to Build Peace. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner. ix + 438pp. ISBN 9781588264800
| Author | Åshild Falch |
| Date | 01 May 2009 |
| DOI | 10.1177/00223433090460030902 |
| Published date | 01 May 2009 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
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NOTES
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vol. 46, no. 3, 2009, pp. 453–458
Sage Publications (Los Angeles, London, New Delhi,
Singapore and Washington DC) http://jpr.sagepub.com
DOI 10.1177/0022343308103928
Browne, Edward Granville, 2008. Letters
from Tabriz: The Russian Suppression of the
Iranian Constitutional Movement. Washington,
DC: Mage. xxxi + 287 pp. ISBN 1933823259.
Írán got its first Constitution in 1906, and, in
1907, Britain and Russia divided Írán into two
spheres of influence. Russia brutally enforced its
interests in northern Írán, in particular in the
regional capital of Tabríz, where the constitu-
tional movement was strong. This excessive use
of force led to significant loss of human life. The
book by E. G. Browne (1862–1926) describes
this oppression. It was prepared for publication
in 1914, but it was not published in Farsi until
1973 and English in 2008. To this day, Browne
may be the leading expert on Írán produced by
the English-speaking world. Edward Said’s analy-
sis of the instrumentalized Orientalists hardly fits
Browne. Letters from Tabriz was written to show
how the British government’s pro-Russian poli-
cies undermined constitutional progress in Írán.
Browne’s book clearly illustrates that the sweep-
ing suspicion with which many Íránians view for-
eign interference is not without historical basis.
Whereas the USA has taken over the regional role
Britain has played since 1906, Russia’s strong
and resourceful presence in Írán has lasted over
a century. Browne’s book helps us understand
why Íránians are so weary of the role of foreign
governments; but it also draws our attention to
how long and difficult the struggle for the con-
stitutional health of Írán has been. One hundred
years after the proclamation of the first Consti-
tution, Írán is still in the process of becoming a
state ruled by a constitution that represents the
rights of all groups in the country. Browne’s mes-
sage to us today is that foreign actors who involve
themselves in Írán cannot ignore this fact at the
expense of Íránian men and women, who need
the protection of an effective constitution and
justice system.
Morten Bergsmo
Call, Charles T. & Vanessa Wyeth, eds, 2008.
Building States to Build Peace. Boulder, CO: Lynne
Rienner. ix + 438pp. ISBN 9781588264800.
Commissioned by the International Peace
Institute (IPI), this edited volume explores the
relationship between the process of building states
and the process of building peace. What is the
role of the state in peacebuilding processes? Are
legitimate and effective state institutions essential
to achieve sustainable post-conflict peace? What
role should international actors play in postwar
state-building? By addressing these questions in
a combination of thematic and case chapters, the
contributing authors cover a number of critical
challenges facing policymakers who seek to build
states while building peace. The book’s first sec-
tion addresses core challenges related to provision
of security, legitimacy, public finance and rule of
law in post-conflict state-building. The second
section is devoted to case studies and explores
the role of state-building in peace processes in
countries as diverse as Afghanistan, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, East Timor, Liberia, Palestine and
Somalia. While concluding that effective state
institutions are central for fostering durable post-
conflict peace, the authors acknowledge that
there are no straightforward answers to the chal-
lenges of building states in post-conflict societies.
The authors find a non-linear, complicated and
context-dependent relationship between state-
building and peacebuilding, and although recog-
nizing the important role that international actors
can play in these processes, they stress that much
caution should be taken when engaging in post-
war operations. Building States to Build Peace is
a wide-ranging and enlightening contribution to
existing scholarship on post-conflict peacebuild-
ing, and as such is a recommendable read for
scholars and practitioners interested in the topic
of how to establish sustainable states in the wake
of war.
Åshild Falch
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