What do victors do after winning a war? "Governing After War - Rebel Victories and Post-War Statebuilding" by Shelley Liu (2024) begins to answer this question with two in-depth analysis (Zimbabwe and Liberia). The book emerges out of doctoral work she did at Harvard. The book is methodologically detailed, uses a range of methods, is intentional about choices and clearly written. Really well done. For anyone looking for evidence on post-conflict statebuilding, this is excellent, and for doctoral students this is an exemplary guide to follow. A couple of notes:
"This book explores how war time processes affect post-war state building efforts by examining the governing strategies of rebel groups that win control of the state. Post-war governance is a continuation of war: though violence has ceased, the victor must consolidate its control over the state through a process of internal conquest. This means carefully making choices about resource allocation toward development and security." (p. v)
"One solution to the problem of strong top- down control from an illiberal rebel regime may be to implement local community programs to build a strong civil society. However, it is not enough to simply prescribe international engagement in local communities. An important aspect of my argument is that my attention must be paid to where these efforts are targeted, depending on the policy's goals. I demonstrate in this book that the international community must contend with the double-edged sword of grassroots citizen political action. Ultimately, if grievances risk fanning the flames of renewed conflict after war has officially ended, then post-war efforts should focus on ensuring peaceful political participation from a vibrant civil society rather than violent participation from a resentful one. Thus international post-war reconstruction efforts should include civil society development to promote democracy and peace." (p. 263)