German troops fighting the Taliban in the Hindu Kush; EU judges sitting in courts in the Balkans; UN viceroys governing parts of Oceania; American occupation of the Middle East. Amid the myriad political experiences of the post-Cold War era, the historians of the future are likely to pay particular attention to attempts by outsiders to administer a host of post-conflict societies, to perform physical and social reconstruction, to establish functioning institutions, to open economies and, ultimately, to transform the 'maladjusted' political cultures of Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Few developments in the two decades after 1989 were as revealing of the character of the international system, of the gaps between liberal discourse and practice, and of the fleeting nature of the Western hegemonic moment. What made the new protectorates possible? What were they like as an actual political experience? How contradictory was its reception? Why was the process of governing others for their own good so flawed and the outcomes so disappointing? These are among the questions addressed by some of the leading authorities in the field, including Stefan Halper, Christopher Clapham, Mats Berdal and Richard Caplan. The book is divided into two parts. The first examines the historical background from which the new protectorates (Bosnia, Kosovo, East Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan) emerged and the dissonant reactions to their creation; the second analyses the experience of governance in the protectorates along several dimensions, ranging from United Nations involvement through problems of policing, civil-military relations, coordination between international forces and the local state to the sometimes perverse consequences of economic policy.

'This is a fascinating and insightful collection of essays from a distinguished set of authors. It examines the international trusteeship of troubled territories from a wide and complimentary set of angles: historical and contemporary, tactical and strategic, theoretical and practical.' * Iain King, co-author, Peace at any Price: How the World Failed Kosovo *
'The editors turn a critical eye on the role of external actors in post-war societies. [ - ] Both optimistic and skeptical readers will find evidence to suit their arguments in this important volume; but the balance of evidence will better suit the pessimists. Practitioners would do well to read it closely.' * Bruce Jones, Director and Senior Fellow of the Center on International Cooperation, NYU and Senior Fellow and Director of the Managing Global Insecurity Program at the Brookings Institution *
'A tremendously exciting volume, drawing both on history and on theory, in assessing, unsentimentally, a set of post-colonial variants of the protectorates of old. The authors are well chosen, their essays both acute and literate. The introduction is a model of lucidity, concision and depth. This book represents a major contribution to the literature of international relations.' * David M. Malone, President, International Development Research Centre, Ottawa *

James Mayall, FBA, is Emeritus Sir Patrick Sheehy Professor of International Relations, and Fellow of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge University. Ricardo Soares de Oliveira is University Lecturer in Comparative Politics, University of Oxford, fellow of St PeterA s College, Oxford, and fellow of the Global Public Policy Institute, Berlin. He is the author of Oil and Politics in the Gulf of Guinea and co-editor of China Returns to Africa, both of which are published by Hurst.