The series features research commissioned as background papers for publications by leading researchers from different national and regional contexts. Each paper benefits from an anonymous external peer review process before being published in this series. I have benefited from comments from Shahra Razavi, Silke Staab, members ofthe Expert Advisory Group for the report and anonymous reviewers. Any errors or misinterpretations of events are mine alone. A shorter version ofthe paper is forthcoming in a Special Issue of Global Policy.