Speiser, Dunja and Handy, Paul-Simon (2005) The state, its failure and external intervention in Africa. Working Paper. Coventry: University of Warwick. Centre for the Study of Globalisation and Regionalisation. (Working papers (University of Warwick. Centre for the Study of Globalisation and Regionalisation)).

Preview

PDF WRAP_Speiser_wp17505.pdf - Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader Download (103Kb)

Abstract

Accelerated processes of globalisation – in the form of structural adjustment plans and of democratisation processes – have seriously shaken the fragile foundations of African countries. These processes have contributed overall to widening the geographical scope of zones of limited statehood where the traditional monopoly of violence is challenged by multiple oligopolies of violence. During the 90s, this phenomenon was at best considered as a regionally limited problem with less significance for international stability. This however changed dramatically with the terrorist attacks in New York in 2001. The resulting US national security strategy, quickly followed by the EU, considered failed states as a major national security problem due to the fact that the attacks were partly planned in Afghanistan, a then collapsed state. The present paper is an attempt to shed a clarifying light on the phenomenon of fragile statehood as well as to explore ways of international intervention. Growing on a Weberian conception of the modern state, it identifies three core functions (monopoly of violence, provision of public goods and political order), which should all be fulfilled by well functioning states. The different stages of state fragility in Africa are then defined by the failing capacity of states to fulfil one or all of these functions. Amidst the whole range of arguments about the reasons of this situation, the paper identifies the deeply rooted neopatrimonial understanding of politics as the most salient explaining variable. The paper concludes by pointing to the fact that international attempts to prevent and to stop state failure as well as to rebuild collapsed states are still at an embryonic stage. Given the multidimensional and complex nature of the problem, an integrated approach among the donor countries will be necessary, which comprises coherent analysis and strategies. The concept of structural stability, formulated by the OECD and the EU still needs to be clarified and translated into concrete policy strategies.

Item Type:	Working or Discussion Paper (Working Paper)
Subjects:	J Political Science > JZ International relations D History General and Old World > DT Africa
Divisions:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Centre for the Study of Globalisation and Regionalisation
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Democratization -- International cooperation, Democratization -- Africa, Political stability -- Africa, Globalization -- Africa, Security, International
Series Name:	Working papers (University of Warwick. Centre for the Study of Globalisation and Regionalisation)
Publisher:	University of Warwick. Centre for the Study of Globalisation and Regionalisation
Place of Publication:	Coventry
Date:	October 2005
Number:	No.175
Number of Pages:	35
Status:	Not Peer Reviewed
Access rights to Published version:	Open Access
References:	Akol, Jacob 2004, Corruption. The difference is in the style, in: New African, July 2004, 56-57. Bayart, Jean-Francois/ Ellis, Stephen/ Hibou, Béatrice 1999, The Criminalization of the State in Africa, African Issue, Oxford. Bayart, Jean-François (ed.) 1996, La Gresse de L’Etat, Paris. Bayart, Jean-Francoise 1993, The State in Africa. The Politics of the Belly, London. Bayart, Jean-François 1983, La revanche des sociétés l’africaine, in: Politique Africaine 11, 95-128. Callaghy, Thomas 1987, The State as a Lame Leviathan: the Patrimonial Administrative State in Africa, in: Ergas, Zaki (ed.), The African State in Transition, New York, 1987, 87 -116. Chabal, Patrick/ Daloz, Jean-Pascal 1999, Africa Works. Disorder as Political Instrument, London. Clapham, Christopher 2002, Global Governance and State Collapse (mimeo), 1-13. Cliffe, Lionel/ Luckham, Robin 1999, Complex Political Emergencies and State: Failure and the Fate of the State, in: Third World Quaterly 20 (1), 27-50. Collier, Paul/ Hoeffler, Anke 2001, Greed and Grievance in Civil War. World Bank. Washington. Commission for Africa, Our Common Interest. Report of the Commission for Africa (http://www.commissionforafrica.org/english/report/introduction.html). Duffield, Mark 2001, Global Governance and the New Wars. The Merging of Devleopment and Security. London, New York: Zed Books. Elbe, Stefan 2004, Aid against Aids. Die Auswirkungen von HIV/AIDS müssen in die Entwicklungspolitik einbezogen werden, in: Internationale Politik 11-12, 65-72. Emmer, Pieter C. 2003, Africa Addio? Afrika muss endlich in den Spiegel sehen, in: Der Überblick 3, 62-64. Engel, Ulf/ Kappel, Robert/ Klingebiel, Stephan/ Mair, Stefan/ Mehler, Andreas/ Schmidt, Siegmar 2000, Memorandum zur Neubegründung der deutschen Afrikapolitik. Frieden und Entwicklung du rch strukturelle Stabilität (mimeo), Berlin. Engel, Ulf 2002, The African State – Probing the Failure of a Social Construction. Paper prepared for the international workshop ‚Africa’s Big Dysfunctional States’. Cadenabbia (Italy), 21-23 November, 4-5. Engel, Ulf/ Erdmann, Gero (forthcoming), Neopatrimonialism Reconsidered – Critical Review and Elaboration of an Elusive Concept (in review process by Journal of Commonwealth and Comparative Studies). Erdmann, Gero 2003, Apokalyptische Trias: Staatsversagen, Staatsverfall und Staatszerfall in Afrika, in: Bendel, Petra/ Croissant, Aurel/ Rüb, Friedbert (ed.), Demokratie und Staatlichkeit. Systemwechsel zwischen Staatsreform und Staatskollaps, Opladen, 267 -292. Erdmann, Gero 2002, Neopatrimoniale Herrschaft – oder: Warum es in Afrika so viele Hybridregime gibt, in: Bendel, Petra/ Croissant, Aurel/ Rüb, Friedbert W. (ed.), Hybride Regime. Zur Konzeption und Empirie demokratischer Grauzonen, Opladen, 323-342. Erdmann, Gero 2001, Neopatrimoniale Herrschaft. Der Übergang zur Demokratie ist nicht gelungen, in: Entwicklung und Zusammenarbeit 10, 294-297. European Commission 2001, Communication from the Commission on Conflict Prevention. COM (2001) 211. April 11. Brussels: EU Commission (http:www.europeansecurity.net/Documents/DocumentsESDP.html). European Security Strategy. A Secure Europe in a Better Word. Brussels, 12 December 2003. Evans, Peter 1995, Embedded Autonomy: States and Industrial Transformation, Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press. Evans, Peter 1997, The Eclipse of the State? Reflections on Stateness in an Era of Globalization, in: World Politics 50, 62-87. Evans, Peter/ Rueschemeyer, Dietrich/ Skocpol Theda (ed.) 1985, Bringing the State Back, Cambridge. Forrest, Joshua Bernard 1998, State Invers ion and Nonstate Politics, in: Villalón, Leonardo/ Huxtable, Phillip A. (ed.), The African State at a Critical Juncture. Between Disintegration & Reconfiguration, Boulder, London, 45-56. Fukuyama, Francis 2004, Staaten bauen. Die neue Herausforderung internationaler Politik, Propyläen Verlag, Berlin. Gilpin, Robert 1987a, The Political Economy of International Relations, Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press. Gilpin, Robert 1987b, War and Change in World Politics, Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press. Global Witness 2003a, For A Few Dollars More. How al Qaeda moved into the diamond trade. A Report by Global Witness. Global Witness 2003b, Les Suspects Habituels: Les Armes et les Mercenaires du Liberia en Côte d’Ivoire et en Sierra Leone. Un rapport de Global Witness. Herbst, Jeffrey I. 1996, Responding to State Failure in Africa, in: International Security 21 (3), 120-144. Huntington, Samuel, 1991, The Third Wave, Norman. International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty 2001, The Responsibility to Protect. Report of the Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty. http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/iciss-ciise/pdf/Commission-Report.pdf Igué, John O. 1999, Le Bénin et la mondialisation de l’économie. Les limites de l’intégrisme du marché, Paris. Ipsen, Knut 1990, Völkerrecht, München. Jackson, Robert H. 1990, Quasi-States. Sovereignty, International Relations, and the Third World, Cambridge. Jackson, Robert H./ Rosberg, Carl G. 1986, Sovereignty and Underdevelopment: Juridical Statehood in the African Crisis, in: Journal of Modern African Studies 24 (1), 1-31. Jackson, Robert H. 1992, Juridical Statehood in Sub-Saharan Africa, in: Journal of International Affairs 46 (1), 1-16. Kabou, Axelle 1991, Et si l’Afrique refusait développement? L’Harmattan, Paris. Kaul, Inge/ Grunberg, Isabelle/ Stern, Marc 1999, Global Public Goods. International Cooperation in the 21st Century, New York: Oxford University Press. Keen, David 2005, Liberalization and Conflict, in: International Political Science Review 26 (1), 73-89. Khadiagala, Gilbert M. 1995, State Collapse and Reconstruction in Uganda, in: Zartman, I. William (ed.), Collapsed States: The Disintegration and Restoration of Legitimate Authority, Boulder, Co./London, 33-48. Mair, Stefan 2003, The New World of Privatized Violence, in: Internationale Politik und Gesellschaft 2, 11-28. Mair, Stefan 2002, Die Globalisierung privater Gewalt. Kriegsherren, Rebellen, Terroristen und organisierte Kriminalität, SWP-Studie, SWP, Berlin. Mair, Stefan 1999, Staatszerfall und Interventionismus: Determinanten grenzüberschreitender politischer Neuordnung. SWP – AP 3114, Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, Ebenhausen. Mair, Stefan/ Ottaway, Marina 2004, States at Risk and Failed States. Putting Security First, Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Policy Outlook. Marx, Karl/ Engels, Friedrich 1972, Werke, Band 4, Dietz, Berlin. M’baye, Sanou 2005, Dans le piè ge de la mondialisation, in: Manière de Voir (Le Monde Diplomatique) 79, 32-34. Mbembe, Achille 2000, De la postcolonie. Essai sur l’imagination politique dans l’Afrique contemporaine, Karthala Paris. Mehler, Andreas 2004, Côte d’Ivoire: Chirac allein zu Haus?, Afrika im Blickpunkt 4. Institut für Afrika-Kunde, Hamburg. Migdal, Joel S./ Kohli, Atul/ Shue, Vivienne (ed.) 1994, State Power and Social Forces. Domination and Transformation in the Third World, Cambridge/New York. Migdal, Joel S. 1988, Strong Societies and Weak States. State-Society Relations and State Capabilities in the Third World, Princeton. Mkandawire, Thandika 1999, Crisis Management and the Making of „choiceless Democracies“, in: Joseph, Richard A. (ed.), State, Conflict, and Democracy in Africa, Boulder (Col), 119-136. Ostergard, Robert L., Jr. 2002, Politics in the hot zone: Aids and national security in Africa, in: Third World Quaterly 23, 2, 333 -350. Ottaway, Marina 2003, Rebuilding state institutions in collapsed states, in: Milliken, Jennifer (ed.), State failure, collapse & reconstruction, London: Blackwell, 245-266. Poulantzas, Nico 1978, Staatstheorie. Politischer Überbau, Ideologie, sozialistische Demokratie, Hamburg VSA. Reno, William 1998, Warlord Politics and African States, Boulder/CO, London: Lynne Rienner. Reno, William 1997, War, Markets, and the Reconfiguration of West Africa’s Weak States, in: Comparative Politics 29 (4), 493 -510. Roehder, Katja 2004, Entwicklungspolitische Handlungsfelder im Kontext erodierender Staatlichkeit in Subsahara-Afrika, Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik, Discussion Paper 5, Bonn. Rotberg, Robert I. 2003a, Herausforderungen an die Weltordnung. Staatenbildung in Zeiten des Terrors, in: Internationale Politik, 11, 1 -10. Rotberg, Robert I. 2003b, State Failure and State Weakness in a Time of Terror, Washington, 2-10. Sachs, Jeffrey 2005, Investing in Development (http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/reports/fullreport.htm). Schmidt, Siegmar 1994, Demokratisierung in Afrika: Fragestellungen, Ansätze und Analysen, in: Merkel, Wolfgang (ed.), Systemwechsel 1. Theorien, Ansätze und Konzeptionen. Leske + Budrich, Opladen 1994, p. 229-270. Schneckener, Ulrich 2004a, States at Risk, Fragile Staaten als Sicherheits- und Entwicklungsproblem, Diskussionspapier, Forschungsgruppe Globale Fragen, SWP, Berlin. Schneckener, Ulrich 2004b, States at Risk. Fragile Staaten als Sicherheits- und Entwicklungsproblem. SWP Studie 43, Berlin. Schneckener, Ulrich 2003, Staatszerfall als globale Bedrohung, in: Internationale Politik, 11, 11-19. Shaw, Timothy M./ Nyang’oro, Julius E. 1999, Conclusion: African Foreign Policies and the Next Millennium: Alternative Perspectives, Practices, and Possibilities, in: Wright, Stephen (ed.), African Foreign Policies. Boulder/Colo.: Westview, 237-248. Spanger, Hans-Joachim 2002, Die Wiederkehr des Staates. Staatszerfall als wissenschaftliches und entwicklungspolitisches Problem. HSFK-Report 1. Spanger, Hans-Joachim 2001, The Ambiguous Lessons of State Failure. Paper presented at the Failed States Conference, 11 -14 April (www.ippu.purdue.edu/failed_states/ 2001/papers/Spanger.pdf). The Economist, 22 January 2005. Tetzlaff, Rainer 1993, Staatszerfall und staatliche Neugliederung. Perspektiven der zukünftigen Staatsstruktur in Afrika, in: Rolf Hofmeier (ed.), Afrika -Jahrbuch 1992, Opladen, 22-33. The National Security Strategy of the United States of America, September 2002. Trotha, Trutz von 2000, Die Zukunft liegt in Afrika. Vom Zerfall des Staates, von der Vorherrschaft der konzentrischen Ordnung und vom Aufstieg der Parastaatlichkeit, in: Leviathan, 28 (2), 253-279. UNAIDS 2003, HIV/AIDS and Security, Factsheet No. 1 (www.unaids.org/html/pub/Topics/Security/FS1security). Unesco 1986, L’affirmation de l’identité culturelle et la formation de la conscience nationale dans l’Afrique contemporaine, Paris. Walle, Nicolas van der 2001, African Economies and the Politics of Permanent Crisis, 1979-1999, Cambridge. Weber, Max 1980, Gesammelte politische Schriften, 4. Aufl., Tübingen: Mohr. World Bank 1997, The State in a Changing World. World Development Report 1997. Washington/DC: The World Bank. World Bank: Millennium Development Goals (http://www.developmentgoals.org/Poverty.htm). World Bank: Fragile States: The LICUS Initiative (http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/PROJECTS/STRATEGIES/EXTLI CUS/0,,menuPK:511784~pagePK:64171540~piPK:64171528~theSitePK:511778,00. html). Zartman, William I. 1995, Collapsed States: The Disintegration and Restoration of Legitimate Authority, Boulder, Co./London.
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/1927

Request changes to a record

Actions (login required)

View Item