WHY STATES RECOVER, changing walking societies unto winning nations - from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe

689 pp., colour illus., paperback, Johannesburg, 2014.

Greg Mills assesses why and how states fail, assesses interventions, and identifies instances of recovery. Based on research in over forty countries, the book includes chapters on Zimbabwe, Angola and South Africa.

"Truly encyclopaedic...showing that success is up to us - an exciting prospect in an enthralling read" Donald Kaberuka, President, African Development Bank

"Greg Mills meets Andy McNab and Paul Collier...though Mills speaks with his own voice and from his own experiences, offering reason to be more optimistic about the future. Read this book." Professor Christopher Coker, London School of Economics

"Crisply written and wide-ranging, incorporating his personal on-the-ground research as well as an excellent mix of data and historical sensitivity, Greg Mills clears a new path through the debate on 'fragile' and 'failed' states. He provides a road map for both donor 'outsiders' and indigenous 'insiders' in a critical aspect of our shared future." Johnny Clegg

From 1996 to 2005 Greg Mills was National Director of the South African Institute of International Affairs. In 2013 he was appointed a member of the African Development Bank's High-Level Panel on Fragile States, and in 2014 a Visiting Senior Fellow at Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. He is on the visiting faculty of the NATO Defence College, the Royal College of Defence Studies, and the South African National Defence College.