Spoils of Truce

Reinoud Leenders is Reader in International Relations with a focus on Middle East Studies in the Department of War Studies at King's College, London. He is coeditor of Middle East Authoritarianisms: Governance, Contestation, and Regime Resilience in Syria and Iran.

• 1. Corruption: A Window into the State of Postwar Lebanon2. Assessing Corruption3. Public Institutions and Bureaucratic Organization4. The Political Settlement of the Second Republic5. The Politics of State-Building and Corruption6. Corruption and the Primacy of PoliticsEpilogueReferencesIndex

"...Reinoud Leenders' 'Spoils of Truce: Corruption and State-Building in Postwar Lebanon' not only offers an interesting read for the general reader, but would also provide excellent material for students in international and political sciences at bachelor and master level, as well as for researchers, experts, consultatnts and politicians." — JIRS Editorial Board, Journal of Intercultural and Religious StudiesOne of the most disturbing legacies of the post-civil war experience in Lebanon has been the persistence of corruption in the country's sociopolitical institutions. In this well-researched book, Leenders... examines the myriad causes of corruption in the country.... [and] convincingly demonstrates how Lebanon's archaic political system perpetuates corruption.... Although the book's focus is on Lebanon, the author's theoretical arguments can be applied to the study of corruption in many other Arab countries. Summing Up: Highly recommended.(Choice) "Through rich descriptions of select postwar institutionsSpoils of Truce advances our knowledge of corruption beyond existing aggregate survey indicators and anecdotal evidence. The result is a more-complete understanding not just of the magnitude and dynamics of corruption, but also of how crucial institutions evolved between 1989 and 2005..... The demand for an alternative theoretical framework originates in the intriguing possibilities offered by the book's careful investigation of corruption cases and how they interact with these struggles. It is above all a testament to Leenders's success in arguing that public institutions deserve a central place even in contexts where they are especially vulnerable to political manipulation." –Julia Choucair-Vizoso, Political Science QuarterlyHere is the most remarkable study day on the Lebanese political system and its operation since the end of the Civil War and the Taif Agreement.... This reads like a fascinating detective story except that it is real people who find themselves without care and without electricity, millions of dollars disappear into private pockets and a country that participated in sixes and sevens.- Élizabeth Picard (Journal of the Worlds Muslims and Mediterranean)