Post-War Statebuilding in Divided Societies: A Conceptual Framework

Abstract

This section engages critically with the growing body of work that focuses on the interdependency of domestic and external (f)actors in processes of political reform. After the collapse of communism that revealed how international factors could prepare the groundwork for the rise of vigorous democratic forces in specific contexts, further attention was paid to exploring whether and how international dynamics may contribute to promoting political change. Furthermore, as a result of various developments such as the massive, multi-strand EU enlargement process in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), academic interest in exploring the interactions between domestic and international actors in processes of institutional change grew rapidly. In particular, scholars focused on the issue of conditionality and external leverage (if not direct intervention) in securing domestic change. This area of research was further stimulated by the various statebuilding interventions that took place in places such as Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq in the 1990s and early 2000s. Notwithstanding the increase of studies devoted to this area of research, many questions have remained unanswered. More specifically, under what conditions can we expect external actors to have an impact on domestic politics? How do external and internal actors interact with one another in processes of externally led political reform?