This book argues that the effectiveness of the state apparatus is one of the crucial variables determining human rights conditions, and that state weakness and failure is responsible for much of the human rights abuses we see today.

Neil A. Englehart is Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Bowling Green State University, USA.

Introduction

1. Rights and the State

2. State Failure

3. A Global View

4. Afghanistan: Catastrophic Collapse

5. Burma/Myanmar: The Illusion of Strength

6. Bihar: The Privatization of Violence

Conclusion