After 1989, the function of TG changed. It became a process whereby TA introduce a constitutional transformation on the basis of interim laws. In spite of its domestic nature, it also became an international project, and one with formidable ambitions: ending war, conflict or crisis by reconfiguring the state order. This model attracted international attention, notably from the UN Security Council, and became a playing field of choice in international politics. Also without recourse to armed force, international actors could impact a state apparatus – through state renaissance. This book zooms in on the non-forcible aspects of conflict-related TG while focusing on the transition (notably by replacement or transplacement) itself. The journey becomes the destination. This study will show that, less and less so and except if the ongoing development of the law applicable to TG itself embarks upon a sea change, neither TA nor external actors can act legibus soluti when realising or contributing to state renaissance.

As to the foundation of TG, TI come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. They are enshrined in international treaties, intrastate agreements or domestic legal acts and laws. The TI we examined however share a number of features. First, their origin or common ‘breeding ground’: non-constitutionality. As a central feature of contemporary TG, non-constitutionality calls for nuanced analysis as TG progressing in stages can be ‘interim-constitution-based’. Second, the method of supraconstitutionality, allowing TI to (partly) supersede, if only temporarily, both the previous and coming constitutional order. Supraconstitutionality then serves as a catalyser for the third common feature of TI: the triple purpose of pacification, self-limitation, and reconstitutionalisation.