To what extent can state failure be explained by patterns of political behavior within developing states? (eBook)

Essay from the year 2010 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Region: Africa, grade: 1, University of Birmingham (International Development Department), course: Development Politics, language: English, abstract: The analysis of state failure and state collapse has gained widespread academic interest over the last years and combines various academic disciplines related to the reasons of non-functioning states and the variables which lead to state failure. This essay will try to contribute to the actual debate by examining to what extent patterns of political behavior can be used to explain state failure within developing states and, more particular, state collapse in Somalia. Therefore, this essay will first discuss theoretical approaches trying to explain state failure and the differences between state failure and state collapse. I will argue that the complexity of state failure and state collapse leads to an ongoing debate about the nature and perception of these states which is often misleading. Whereas the dominant factors which cause state failure are often found in bad governance and bad leadership, other factors such as the role of external patterns of political behavior during colonial times as well as during the cold war fostered weak state structures and enabled African rulers to develop a different understanding of the state as a tool for personal ends that lead to a logic of self-destructive despotism prior to state collapse.

In a second step the article examines the case of Somalia in further detail, trying to analyze causes of state collapse and the impact of political behavior that led to state failure within the Somali context. I will argue that on the one hand patterns of political behavior by foreign actors are one main cause of Somali state collapse. On the other hand, the rule of Siyaad Barre and his patterns of political behavior followed a logic of self-destructive despotism which contributed largely to the fact that Somalia collapsed in 1991, when Barre was ousted.

Finally, I will draw a conclusion based on the presented analysis to what extent patterns of political behavior within development states can explain state failure.