State Reconstruction
There are around
one billion people believed to live in 50 fragile or failed states, many of
which are in Africa. There is growing international concern
over the growing number of fragile states in the world. This concern has
been mainly been driven by the recognition that fragile and failed states can
be a source of domestic and international insecurity. Fragile and failed states
serve as a base for terrorist groups, organized crime and other international
security threats. Fragile and failed states are also characterized by violent
disorder, conflict, lawlessness, and collapse of basic services. Effective and
legitimate states, able to fulfill their responsibilities of providing basic
social services and security to their citizens are widely accepted to be vital
to the achievement of peace, stability and development. Thus, state reconstruction in fragile states is a critically important though a highly challenging endeavor.
The concept of state reconstruction was first used by Charles Tilly in ‘Western-State
Making and Theories of Political Transformation’ in connection to the creation of states in Western Europe and focused
on the power enforcement of state in society. Since, state reconstruction has become an inter-disciplinary topic, drawing from
different fields of study. By the 1970s, the world was divided into
sovereign states, which emerged as the organizing international political. However,
during the 1980 the focus turned to
reducing the role of state and unleashing the capitalist market. Thus, the
concept of state building was off the international agenda. State reconstruction re-emerged, in the
late 1980s and 1990s as armed conflicts following the Cold War were
increasingly associated with failed and collapsed states. Thus, international
peace-building interventions increasingly focused on rebuilding and
reconfiguring the state as a central feature in peace and development
interventions in post-conflict situations. In the post 9/11 era, the importance
of state building was further consolidated by the growing international concern
about “weak”, “fragile”, or “failing” states. Security and development were
linked and the security of wealthy states is viewed as being threatened by the
“weak”, “fragile”, or “failing” poor states.
Though the concept of
state reconstruction is used by a wide variety of experts, the concept has
become an area of contestation among international experts and development
practitioners. State building as understood by political and international
relations experts refers to the set of actions undertaken by national and/or
international actors to establish, reform and strengthen state institutions
where these had seriously been eroded or were missing. Development experts however criticize the state
building concept as ‘neo-imperialist’ or ‘neo-colonialist’ used as an instrument to
transfer and instill western culture, values and institutions. This debate has raised the
issue of local ownership of state building initiatives. Another controversy that surrounds state building is
as to how justified foreign intervention is in undertaking state building
activities in the domestic affairs of weak or fragile states.
The concept of the ‘state’ is also a source of controversy.
Depending on differing theories about the state, the literature on state
building is also largely divided. Some theorists
argue that the state is the
foundation of the international system, which should be, preserved. On the
other hand, others argue that the state especially one formed by a former
colonial power is not worth preserving. Such states should be left to disintegrate
so that a system that represents the preexisting realities and culture of the
society can be formed that existed before colonization.
Currently, there is no coherent strategic approach to state reconstruction. Nonetheless, there is emphasis on enhancing the capacity of
the state apparatus to ensure sustainable peace, which cannot be separated from state competences in the provision
of basic social services and security. The literature mentions different
challenges to successful state building. Conflict, lack of basic security,
social diversity and lack of resources are the key obstacles to state building
initiatives. The lack of a functional
tax system is a major obstacle for state building. The challenge to
successful state building is a highly fragmented and ethnically divided
society. Incompetent public
administration, corruption, bureaucratic decay, and bad policies are the core
challenges to successful state building. This is taken to be a purposeful
technique used by leaders to create ‘shadow states’ to meet their personal aim.
A ‘shadow state is an informal, commercially oriented network that operates
alongside weak government bureaucracies that does not compromise the power of
rulers’. State building is
especially challenging in conflict affected or post conflict situations or in
countries where criminality and violence are prevalent.
Different experts have tried to categorize states in different
typologies according to the different challenges they face. The most
comprehensive typology is provided by the OECD which defined states
plagued with the above-mentioned challenges as fragile states. State fragility
is stated in the literature as the major challenge to building resilient
states. Thus, state building is constrained or undermined by the very
conditions of fragility that makes it necessary. Shewit
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