State-Building Challenges Research Articles

EU enlargement in wartime Europe: three dimensions and scenarios

ABSTRACT The enlargement policy of the European Union from 2013 to 2022 was not only ineffective, but also lacked an active enlargement drive. Russia’s war in Ukraine changed the equation of costs and benefits in favour of new members and gave the EU a geopolitical incentive to restart enlargement. Enlargement is not only a geopolitical strategy, however: it also requires successful state-building efforts in the neighbourhood. Moreover, it is closely interlinked with the EU’s internal development. This article analyses the current evolution of the EU enlargement policy as it emerges from the interplay of geopolitics, state-building challenges, and the EU’s internal dynamics. Drawing on original interviews with officials, the paper also presents three scenarios for the coming decade. The paper concludes that to achieve its foreign policy objectives in the neighbourhood, the EU cannot continue ‘business as usual’ with enlargement. On the contrary, the policy of 2013–2022 needs to be replaced by a more effective model that encourages candidate countries to undertake genuine efforts towards democratic development. At the same time, reforms and compromises are required at the EU’s end. Finally, the EU needs to better address the security needs of the applicant countries already during the accession process.

The convergence and divergence of the United States and the European Union have influenced the state-building process in Afghanistan over the past two decades.

The history of Afghanistan can be seen as lacking fundamental and structural governments, although rulers under the title of the state governed the country in the recent century. However, the absence of accountable governments led the country to remain in perpetual conflict and chronic violence. After 2001, when a new chapter in Afghanistan's political history began, the United States and the European Union had direct and indirect involvement in all Afghan affairs. Misunderstanding the necessity and importance of Afghanistan's cultural, historical structures, and underdevelopment in governance contributed significantly to the challenge of state-building. The main question is: how has the convergence and divergence between the United States and the European Union influenced the state-building process in Afghanistan over the past two decades?
 Apparently, the European Union and the United States did not fundamentally differ in their definition of governance issues. However, they had differences in their approaches and methods to achieve their goals, which had a negative impact on the state-building process in Afghanistan. This study utilized analytical-descriptive methods and collected information from library resources, articles, and journals. The findings indicate that over the past two decades, the European Union and the United States did not differ in supporting a strong government in Afghanistan. However, they had differences in their approaches and methods to achieve their goals, leading to the failure of state-building efforts.

NATIONALIZING TYPE OF NATIONALISM: SPECIFIC CHALLENGES OF STATE BUILDING IN THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN

The purpose of the article is to explore the issues of establishing and strengthening the national sovereignty of Kazakhstan in the context of the specific challenges of state building, which include the problems of ethnocultural integration. The policy of the state on the cultural integration of ethnic groups on the basis of the Kazakh language and culture is revealed in the context of the dominance of the Russian language as the basis of cultural integration in modern Kazakhstan. To this end, the analysis is based on the nationalizing state methodology of Rogers Brubaker. Findings. The national integration of Kazakhstan according to its post-Soviet model is carried out as a balance of ethnic and civil nation. In the context of national policy for state building in Kazakhstan, the cultural and linguistic Kazakhization of ethnic groups and the Russification model of cultural integration of ethnic groups are of priority importance. The fundamental importance of the cultural integration of ethnic groups based on the Kazakh language and culture as one of the aspects of national integration is justified by the fact that without it, the national construction of Kazakhstan is incomplete. Kazakhization of demographic processes has already changed the ethnic image of the country, but its impact on the socio-cultural environment will not be so fast and far from unambiguous. The state in its national policy seeks to prevent the escalation of inter-ethnic contradictions into political conflicts. Politicization of ethnicity in Kazakhstan is unacceptable.

The failure of democracy in Afghanistan

ABSTRACT This article examines the failures of democratization in Afghanistan (2001–2021) after the collapse of the Taliban regime in 2001. Over the last two decades, the Afghan state has experienced major setbacks in its journey of democratic development and statebuilding. This article, therefore, analyzes the pressures facing the state from the crisis of performative legitimacy, fraudulent election processes, political centralization, and state failure and corruption. More specifically, it argues that from the above-mentioned factors when considered, the lack of performative legitimacy played a significant role in the failure of democracy and statebuilding efforts. Towards that goal, each of these areas has been defined through an emphasis on how they relate to the broader challenges of legitimacy building, statebuilding and democratization in the country.

Transforming Institutions and Governance to Build forward Better towards 2030

The article is intended to stimulate the discussions on sustainable development and separate Sustainable Development Goals. It was initially prepared for the 21st session of the UN Committee of Experts on Public Administration “Transforming institutions and governance to build forward better towards 2030”. The article covers the progress, lessons learned and challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on the implementation of Goals 4, 5, 14 and 15 and on leaving no one behind, as well as reflections on the challenges of state-building. The authors suggest that building strong and effective public institutions is crucial for achieving the Goals and building forward better after the pandemic. This should be accompanied by investments in the public sector workforce to align competences and values with the challenges ahead. Supporting developing countries in making their public institutions, societal and physical infrastructure and economies more resilient and agile not only against COVID-19 but against all potential future shocks is crucial and in the interest of all nations. Global cooperation and solidarity are therefore critical, and all countries should work together to address the virus and ensure equitable vaccine distribution while also ensuring that no one – and no country – is left behind.

Post-international Intervention Libya: The Challenges Against State-Building

The most critical and dangerous prospect for the revolution is that Libyans not only overthrow the Gaddafi regime but also destroy any representation of contemporary power and its center that lacks firm roots in Libyan soil and culture. The revolution and war caused widespread devastation, necessitating a start from scratch. However, due to the Libyan context and situation, this attempt is hampered by numerous impediments related to historical, natural, and geographical contexts to the extent of tribalism and external interference. This has resulted in the emergence of tribal, local, and regional tendencies that are sometimes contradictory but persistent. This makes the process of disarming and integrating militants into state institutions a dangerous endeavor that threatens and impedes the establishment of state institutions necessary for the democratic transition process to succeed and significantly impedes the establishment of the new political system. This article aimed to analyze Libya’s future in the post-international intervention context by looking at the democratic transition and state-building challenges, the impact of the crisis on economic activity and oil production, and weak institutional structures and modernization requirements.

Colonial Legacies and (In)security in Africa: A Cameroonian Civil War Perspective

Background: This article systematically analyzes the extent to which British and French colonial legacies influenced the outbreak of the Cameroonian civil war. Drawing on a theoretical argument that associates the likelihood of civil war with the tensions that arise from the challenges of state formation and state-building, this article revisits the process of state formation in Cameroon and argues that the Cameroonian civil war is an artifact of conflicting British and French colonial legacies.
 Purpose: This research aimed at examining the link between the British and French colonial legacies and the Cameroonian civil war.
 Methodology: This study was desk research. Secondary data sources like journal articles, databases, newspaper articles, blogs, monographs, and other internet materials were consulted. These materials were subjected to content validity before being considered and analyzed qualitatively in the study. Tilly’s warfare theory on modern state formation was used as an explanatory tool to deepen the understanding of the links between war and state formation and to better appreciate the impact of British and French colonial legacies on the processes of state formation and state-building in Cameroon.
 Findings: This paper demonstrated that although governance crises heightened tensions between British and French Cameroons, conflicting British and French colonial legacies constitute the root cause of the civil war. Anglophones have been disgruntled with the relatively low rates of investment in the Anglophone regions, political marginalization, the domination of the French language over the English language in official matters nationwide, and the ‘frenchification’ of the Anglo-Saxon education and judicial systems.
 Unique Contribution to Practice and Policy: This article suggests that it is necessary for peacebuilders and policy experts to address colonial factors when designing policies aimed at resolving the Cameroonian civil war. Dealing only with governance crises without addressing the colonial roots of the problem runs the risk of relapse to conflict in the future. Also, because the British and French colonial legacies are at the center of the crisis, there is a need for Britain and France to revisit their terms of relations with Cameroon, galvanize global resources, and harmonize efforts to influence and foster the resolution of the conflict.

State-Building 101: Hard Lessons From Afghanistan

The American war in Afghanistan was originally an act of retaliation and retribution. Over time it assumed the moral burden of state-building. The state-building effort however was undermined by inadequate planning, inadequate knowledge, and inadequate understanding of the complexity and difficulty of the state-building process. Ultimately, the Afghanistan state-building effort failed. The commentary assumes the premise that even in an era of great power competition, the West cannot escape the challenge of state-building as fragile and failing states will continue to threaten global security. The commentary suggests a set of considerations for those responsible for the inevitable state-building challenges of the future.

Mulugeta Gebrehiwot Berhe, 2019, Laying the Past to Rest. The EPRDF and the Challenge of Ethiopian State-Building

Mulugeta Gebrehiwot Berhe, 2019, Laying the Past to Rest. The EPRDF and the Challenge of Ethiopian State-Building

The Western International Peace Architecture and the Emergence of the Eastphalian Peace

ABSTRACT This article explores the nexus between the International Peace Architecture (IPA) and the Eastphalian Peace. The IPA subsumes ideas, norms, legal frameworks and institutions established for the purpose of maintaining international peace. The Eastphalian Peace encompasses phenomena associated with the rise of Asian powers such as China and India in their efforts to maintain or reform the IPA to meet the challenges of peacebuilding, statebuilding and development assistance in the twenty-first century. This article examines the contributions made by China and India to the IPA and analyses how the emergence of the Eastphalian Peace would impact on Stage Six of the IPA which is supposed to connect Peace with Global Justice (PGJ).

Sudan and South Sudan: an unamicable political divorce

ABSTRACT South Sudan became a juridical state in July 2011. Its statehood materialised after protracted north-south civil wars were brought to an end by the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). The CPA set forth self-rule for an interim period and a referendum on independence for the South Sudanese in January 2011. While the two states split peacefully, post-separation relations between the Sudans has been complicated. This paper explores the unamicable political divorce of South Sudan from Sudan. It examines the key post-separation issues that have remained sources of contention and conflict between the Sudans. Based on a qualitative approach, and primary and secondary sources of data, the paper argues that border claims over Abyei and Heglig/Panthou, the politics of oil, mutual subversion, historical grievances, and internal political dynamics continue to drag the two countries into conflict. It argues that because of their importance to the socio-economic and political vitality to both states, border claims and oil remain particularly important in shaping relations between the Sudans. Unless managed properly, based on a win-win approach, the divergence on outstanding issues will exacerbate state building challenges in the world’s newest state of South Sudan.

Forging state-building through BRICS: Remodelling South Africa’s foreign policy approach on Zimbabwe

ABSTRACT South Africa is increasingly burdened by the continuing crisis in neighbouring Zimbabwe. This article asks the following question: what can South Africa do to resolve the situation, in the face of her weakened regional hegemonic status and the intransigence of a securocratic state in Harare? Tracing foreign policy approaches of the Mandela, Mbeki and Zuma administrations, the article argues that each failed in Zimbabwe because of the focus on symptomatic problems rather than on systemic state-building challenges. In particular, South Africa has been hindered by policymakers’ respect for state sovereignty, and state securitisation. There is an urgent need for an innovative intervention to forge state-building in Zimbabwe. The article outlines how a coordinated approach with the development agencies of the BRICS member states (Brazil, Russian, India, China and South Africa), through their expansive resources and varied expertise, could effectively support state-building in Zimbabwe based on cooperative hegemony.

STATE FRAGILITY AND POST-CONFLICT STATE-BUILDING: AN ANALYSIS OF SOUTH SUDAN CONFLICT (2013-2019)

The South Sudan conflict flared up in 2013 hardly two years after successful secession from Sudan. This autonomy was achieved after more than two decades of intense fighting between the tribes from the north and south regions of Sudan. However, the path to creating a new united and modern state has been challenging for South Sudan. This article explores post-conflict reconstruction for Africa’s newest state through an in-depth analysis of the conflict narratives, peace processes, humanitarian crisis and the challenges of state-building for South Sudan. The article argues that the challenge to the establishment of a strong and stable South Sudanese state is because of the fragile social, political and economic status that the country inherited at independence. This article also identifies that ethnicity has been exploited by the different political actors in the conflict to achieve personal and group interests leading to outbreak of one of the most intense conflicts not only within Africa, but also globally.

Coordination Problems and Aid-Dependency as Challenges of State-Building in the Fragile States

This article examines the concept of state-building as an imperative need in this globalizing world amidst the existence of fragile states around the world. It begins with a simple question regarding the challenges of state-building in fragile states and what measures can be done to minimalizethe probable negatives. Using secondary source analysis and twocase studiesof state-building in Afghanistan, Somaliland, and Aceh, this research finds that there are exclusively two overarching challenges to state- building. First, there has been a challenge of coordination among different actors, as well as with the respective population in the relevant states; the second is the challenge of creating an effective exit strategy, such as maintaining stability and avoiding aid- dependency after the state-building mission has been finished. Keywords: state-building, fragile states, Afghanistan, Somaliland, Aceh DOI : https://doi.org/10.33005/jgp.v7i01.1813

State-building challenges in Iraq after 2003

The state is an institutional, political and economic project, and despite this long period of time (nearly a century) since the founding of the Iraqi state, the various political systems that successively governed Iraq were unable to complete the state-building process, which made it suffer and face political, economic, or security challenges. This country has collapsed At the hands of the American occupation, the Iraqi state and society are going through a difficult and complicated stage as a result of the accumulation of problems, crises, political, economic and security challenges, including political violence, the crisis of displacement, internal and external migration, the phenomenon of unemployment and the war against terrorism. The state has an integrated system between political forces and state institutions, as well as with the help of international organizations, especially the United Nations, and the political regime in Iraq under the American occupation and the collapse of political power and state institutions, and then its establishment again by the American occupier, issued by the Coalition Provisional Authority for the year 2004 issued by the governor Civilian Bremer and the establishment of the Governing Council, and after that, several components were established through parliamentary elections. The nation-building went through a difficult and complicated stage as a result of political, security and economic accumulations, all of which led to a fundamental imbalance in the core of the Iraqi state’s construction, which hindered it from delivering Tasks in achieving security, political, security and economic stability.

Armed Non-State Actors and the Challenge of 21st-Century State Building

Armed Non-State Actors and the Challenge of 21st-Century State Building

Endemic Corruption and Challenges of Reforms and State Building in Nigeria

Endemic Corruption and Challenges of Reforms and State Building in Nigeria

Civil society versus captured state: a winning strategy for sustainable change

ABSTRACTIn the West, Ukraine is known as country of wasted potential, and most recently the scene of a proxy war between the West and Russia. What is often missing in the analysis is that, internally, the country faces serious nation- and state-building challenges. These call for development of institutions, values, and behaviours that could sustain an open democratic system of governance. A strong and sustainable civil society is an integral part of such a system. In 2013 a popular uprising toppled the corrupt regime of Victor Yanukovych. This triggered the Russian annexation of Crimea and unleashed a violent separatist movement in Ukraine’s industrial heartland, the Donbass. Since 2014 Ukraine has been both under external attack and simultaneously trying to reform its corrupt and captured political system.

Street Fights: The Commodification of Place Names in Post-Taliban Kabul City

The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 ended the Taliban rule and brought to power a coalition government whose members had spent most of the previous decade fighting each other. After 2001, the rivalry between these groups was mainly pursued in the cultural sphere where each was fighting to shape the narrative of the war. Place names have been one of the main domains in which this ideological conflict has been fought. The contestation over place names in Kabul city has turned these mundane geographical signs into coveted commodities of great symbolic significance. This article examines the practice of place naming in post-Taliban Kabul to explore the cultural challenges of state-building in a postwar city. Based on official data and field observations, this article is informed by recent theoretical developments in the field of critical toponymy and specifically draws on the emerging debates on commodification of place names. In the post-Taliban era, the article shows, place names have turned into resources for accumulation of symbolic capital and political recognition. As a result, the state offers toponyms to buy political loyalty and nonstate groups often appropriate them illegally. The article contributes to existing scholarship on commodification of place names by linking it to questions of postwar state-building and spatialization of ethnic identity.

The Geography of Justice: Assessing Local Justice in Colombia’s Post-Conflict Phase

This article combines descriptive empirical research with theoretical reflections to offer policy guidelines on what the role of local justice institutions in Colombia’s post-conflict phase should be. The article is divided into two parts. In the first, we present empirical evidence to illustrate the ways in which justice operates differently across the territory. In addition to illustrating these disparities, we also demonstrate the connection between these disparities and some phenomena relevant to understanding the Colombian conflict. Based on these findings, the second part of this article defines the state-building challenge confronted by the Colombian State during the post-conflict phase. Following this part, we propose a solution to this state-building challenge: the State must adopt a combination of efficacy and justice, and we provide guidelines on how a post-conflict justice system can operate to achieve that combination.