Old wine in a new bottle: Governance, fragility and armed conflict trio in Swat Valley, Pakistan

Abstract

Fragility in governance and armed conflict are directly linked and are the causes and consequence of each other. This study aimed to understand pre and during conflict scenarios of fragile governance in Swat. This research used qualitative research design and conducted in depth interviews from multiple stakeholders ranging from government officials to men and women in the community. The results showed that weak legislation and legal plurality led to the fragility in governance that later on transformed into armed conflict. The findings reveal that the fragile administrative governance was the root cause in the initiation of armed insurgency in Swat.