International Governance via Shared Sovereignty Arrangements between International (Donor) Organisations and Weak States

Abstract

The creation of a sustainable peace process after an intra-sate conflict is widely seen a going hand in hand with the economic reconstruction and socio-economic development of the post conflict society. During the transformation period especially countries, which are rich of resources, seem to be in need of external support to fight the structures of war-economies and to create a stable socio-economic development. In this situation international donor organisations often take over governance functions of the weak state and seek to apply so-called international governance-standards to address the local situation. This raises first and foremost the question whether and how these international organisations are bound to these governance standards themselves. Additionally, does this external involvement raise concerns about its legitimacy; critics even speak of a form of intervention into the sovereignty of a (weak) state or even of a new form of colonialism taking the ownership of the processes from the target-state.The balance between local needs and the depth of international involvement seems fragile and international donor activities can in fact push against or go beyond the borders of the Westphalian concept of sovereignty and bluer the lines between the domestic and international sphere. So-called temporary shared-sovereignty agreements between international (donor) organisation and transitional governments could serve as a concept to cope with the outlined challenges.The question is whether shared sovereignty arrangements can indeed serve as a veritable tool for governance in states emerging out of conflicts? Sharing temporary effective control over state-institutions, resources and policy fields between governments and international (donor) organisations could remove some of the impediments for a sustainable socio-economic development and peace in post-conflict countries and entire regions. This assumption and the above raised question will be critically discussed by using inter alia at the examples of the Governance and Economic Management Assistance Program for Liberia (GEMAP) and the Chad-Cameroon Pipeline Project.