Warlord Survival


After holding a book workshop at Columbia University’s Arnold A. Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies, I am now completing a book manuscript entitled Warlord Survival: The Delusion of Statebuilding in Afghanistan exploring how Afghan warlords exert authority while challenging the central state after 2001. This manuscript is based on my doctoral research, which was conducted through extensive fieldwork (12 months in Afghanistan). It sheds light on how local actors bypass peacebuilders’ constraints and maximize their capacities to conduct foreign relations while preserving a facade of subordination to a globally recognized sovereign.