Timor Sharan is an Associate Fellow at IDEAS, London School of Economics and Political Science's foreign policy think tank, London, U.K. He was formerly the International Crisis Group's Policy Analyst for Afghanistan and worked as a Senior Civil Servant for the Afghan government. He completed his doctorate at the University of Exeter and his MPhil at the University of Cambridge, U.K.

This book maps out how political networks and centres of power, engaged in patronage, corruption, and illegality, effectively constituted the Afghan state, often with the complicity of the U.S.-led military intervention.

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Political networks and the state: An analytical framework

Chapter 3: The origins and evolution of political networks: Factionalism, violence, and political settlements

Chapter 4: The Bonn experiment and a flawed foundation: Re-assembling and re-constituting the Afghan state (2001-2004)

Chapter 5: Consolidating a political "Empire of Mud" (2004- 2014)

Chapter 6: The National Unity Government: Political order disruption and strains

Chapter 7: Elections for sale: Manipulating identities and bargaining

Chapter 8: Parliament as a grand marketplace: Alliance-building, auctions, and access

Chapter 9: International money as a "weapons system", rent, and corruption

Chapter 10: The U.S.A military exit and a spectacular collapse