Taylor & Francis

Taylor & Francis

English

'This is an important book on an important subject. What happens to internal security services in liberalizing regimes is one of the key predictors of whether or not democracy will be successfully consolidated - yet it remains an under-studied subject. Derdzinski's meticulously researched, engagingly written, and convincingly argued study fills an important void in the literature and deserves the attention of students, scholars, policy-makers, and the broader public.' Zoltan Barany, University of Texas at Austin, USA 'A fascinating exploration of how internal security forces pose a dilemma for nascent democracies. These institutions are often illiberal, being steeped in secrecy, violence, and the ability to act above the law, yet most needed by the state during the violence-prone transition to democracy. A great contribution to the study of democratization and its problems.' Michael Freeman, Naval Postgraduate School, USA '...constitutes an important contribution to the literatures of both democratisation and intelligence studies. The genuinely comparative analysis of two Islamic countries provides insights into the key question of how internal security services may be reformed in an era of "stalled liberalization" and in the face of political violence.' Peter Gill, University of Salford, UK