External actors in State Reconstruction: a case study of Somalia (1991-2015)

Abstract

This study examines state reconstruction in the context of external actors both state and nonstate and Somali provides the case of study. The study makes use of Structural realism to examine behavior of actors in the reconstruction process as well as acknowledging the structure of world politics in explaining the dynamics of a state’s reconstruction process. The study uses data from both primary and secondary sources with primary data mainly generated from interviews with experts representing state officials and officials in Non- Governmental Organizations as well as International organizations involved in Somalia reconstruction process. The study establishes that there are both convergent and divergent interests pursued by various external actors involved in the Somalia reconstruction. National security and political interests are isolated as cross-cutting interests that motivate the direct involvement of the state actors involved in Somalia such as Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, USA, Eritrea, and by and large at the continental level, presently pursued by AMISOM while the UN represents the wider global interest. However, besides the cross-cutting interests, state actors have also fostered state-specific interests that have not always converged with the interests of those other states involved in the reconstruction process. For instance, the US interest on the war on terror in Somalia has not necessarily been the interest of the other states involved in Somalia. The study further finds that the dynamics of the interests has therefore been pivotal in guiding the process as the state actors jostle to influence the reconstruction process in line with their interests. The place of internal domestic actors in the reconstruction process comes in handy in this study in the determination of the direction of the process. The study recommends for aggregation of the efforts by different actors involved in the reconstruction process in order to have a common goal and approach rather than each pursuing own interests at the expense of a successful reconstruction process. The study also recommends a Somali-owned reconstruction process with full involvement of the Somalis themselves as opposed to an externally led process if meaningful reconstruction is to be realized.