Rethinking the foundations of the State, an analysis of post-crisis situations

The idea for this volume originated in research on the dynamics of State reform and transition, which was carried out as a collaboration between two research organisations: Espace Europe and Modus Operandi.

• Espace Europe is a multidisciplinary research institute, part of the Pierre Mendes France University in Grenoble, France and its research looks at State transition from an economic and international law perspective with a focus on post-Soviet and Mediterranean countries.

• Modus Operandi is an independent research institute, which uses anthropological and sociological tools to analyse the political transition of States.

The working group constituted by these two organisations has organised a series of seminars and an international conference in Grenoble on the same theme as this volume. A wide range of work covering the same subject matter has been carried out by Modus Operandi, including: a collection of case-studies of State transition in post-conflict and post-Soviet contexts; a study commissioned by the French Ministry of Defence on the processes of State failure and possible responses of international State actors; and a series of debates on legitimacy and governance in collaboration with the Institute for Research and Debate on Governance (IRG, Paris). Espace Europe has published a series of articles on economic transition in post-soviet countries and its previous director, Ivan Samson, has been at the head of several international programs to advise governments of Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Algeria and Western and central Africa on development strategies and administrative reform.

The European Science Foundation has given financial support to this initiative, by funding the organisation of an international research conference entitled “Post-crisis State transformation, rethinking the foundations of the State”, which took place in Sweden in May 2009. The chapters included in this volume are adaptations of a selection of conference presentations that focus on case studies from a diverse range of countries. This empirical approach allows us to gain an intimate understanding of the State in its different dimensions.

We thank the European Science Foundation, the Charles Léopold Mayer Foundation, the University Pierre Mendès France and the University of Linköping for their generous support during the process leading to this publication. Finally, we would like to thank Alexia Stainer for her wonderful job in always keeping a critical eye on our writing.

Contributors

• Christel Alvergne is Senior Technical Advisor and Deputy Director of the West African Regional Office of the United Nation Capital Development Fund (UNCDF). She is also Associate Professor at the Université de la Francophonie (Alexandria) and Maître de conference (on leave) at the Université de Bordeaux-III.

• Hrant Bagratyan has obtained a PhD in Economics in Russia, Armenia and Ukraine. He is professor of Geo-economics, Global Macroeconomics and Human Resources at the University of Banking Affairs of the National Bank of Ukraine in Kiev and Russian-Armenian University in Yerevan. Author of the theory of Geo-economics. Since 1990 till 1996, during his activities as Vice-prime Minister and Prime-Minister of Armenia, Hrant Bagratyan was the leader of the Armenian economic reforms of first generation, recognized by World Bank as the best among CIS countries.

• Ingrid Johanna Bolívar is Assistant Professor at the Political Science Department of the Universidad de Los Andes in Bogota and Associated Researcher on « Political Violence and State Formation » at Cinep (Centro de Investigación y Educacion Popular).

• Anne Brown is Senior Research Fellow at the Australian Centre for Peace & Conflict Studies, University of Queensland, Australia

• Constance Chevallier-Govers is Maître de conférences at CESICE, University Pierre Mendès France, Grenoble

• Helen Delfeld is Assistant Professor at the Political Science Department of the College of Charleston,United States.

• Alain Dieckhoff is Research Director at the National Center for Scientific Research, the Center for International Studies and Research (CNRS/CERI) at Sciences Po, Paris He is member of the editorial boards of Politique et sociétés, Maghreb-Machrek and Questions internationales. In addition to his main research area focusing on politics and society of contemporary Israel, he also works on the transformations of contemporary nationalism. Among his recent publications are: L’Etat d’Israël, (ed.) Paris, Fayard, 2008. Revisiting nationalism. Theories and processes, New York, Columbia UP, 2005 (ed., with Christophe Jaffrelot). The Politics of Belonging. Nationalism, Liberalism, and Pluralism, (ed.), Lanham, Lexington, 2004.

• Claske Dijkema (ed.) is Co-director of the independent research and training institute Modus Operandi in France and co-chair of the conference “Post-crisis State transformation: rethinking the foundations of the State” . She is specialised in issues of post-conflict political transition in Southern Africa. Claske also teaches courses in conflict transformation, geopolitics, and intercultural awareness both in an academic setting and as online courses aimed at a worldwide audience of professionals.

• Javier Fabra Mata is Research Associate at the UNDP Oslo Governance Centre and a doctoral research candidate at the University Jaume I. He holds two MPhil in peace, conflict and development from the University of Tromsø and the University Jaume I.

• Karine Gatelier (ed.) is co-director of Modus Operandi, an independent research institute. She holds a PhD in Social Anthropology (EHESS, Paris) and has conducted research in Uzbekistan. Her focus was on collective identities and relations between minorities and the majority within Uzbek society. Today she works on the dynamics of identity, loyalty, political legitimacy and strategies of legitimization in authoritarian regimes, including the management of natural resource revenue as a resource of power.

• Fernan González is Researcher at the Colombian research and training centre CINEP (Centro de Investigación y Educacion Popular).

• Gemma van der Haar is Assistant professor at Disaster Studies, Wageningen University. She has a background in development sociology and conflict studies. She has done extensive research on the Zapatista uprising in Chiapas (Mexico). Her current research focuses on local governance in conflict and post-conflict contexts.

• Hervé Hutin is a researcher in political economy at Creppem-Espace Europe Institute, Université de Grenoble. His research interests focus on reconstruction and development in post-conflict States and on Afghanistan. He is responsible for the master « Crisis analysis and humanitarian relief »in the Université de Savoie. Last publication :. « La sécurité internationale et le conflit afghan : une analyse en termes de Statebuiding et de seuil de capacité institutionnelle », in « Economie Politique de la Sécurité Internationale » Pr Jacques Fontanel (Ed.), L’Harmattan, 2010

• John Igué is Professor of Geography and Scientific Director of the Laboratory of Regional Analysis and Social Expertise (LARES), National University of Benin. He is former Minister of Industry and Small-Medium Size Enterprises and has been Advisor to the OECD’s Sahel and West Africa Club. Among his recent publications are: The Beninese of diaspora: the case study of Ghana, Ivory Coast and Gabon. (UNFPA), 2008 – ATG, Cotonou (Bénin); Between Space, Power, and Society: A Geography of Uncertainty. Karthala, Paris, 2006; Nation-States faced with Regional Integration in West Africa: The Case of Benin. Karthala, Paris, 2006

• Daniel Latouche is Professor of Political Science (Honorary) at the Centre urbanisation, culture et Société of the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (Montréal). He is also international consultant on decentralisation, local economic development and territorial planning in Africa. The views expressed are strictly their own and do not represent in any ways those of the organizations with which they are affiliated.

• Tanya Mamatova is a PhD student at Pierre Mendes France University. She has previously worked as a Project Coordinator at the Human Rights Bureau in Kyrgyzstan. Her main research interests are transition processes with a focus on institutional changes.

• Vladimir Mau is Rector of the Academy of National Economy under the Russian Federation Government. Member of the Editorial Board for Voprosy Ekonomiki, the Mir Rossii and the RAND Journal of Economic Transition. Since 1991 Vladimir Mau has contributed to design and implement the course of Russian economic reforms. He is currently head of the advisors committee for the Anti-crisis policy of Prime Minister Putin. He has been among pioneer researchers into the Russian problems of constitutional economy and developers of a new avenue of research of transformational economic processes known as the political economy of reforms.

• Ken Menkhaus is Professor of Political Science at Davidson College, where he has taught since 1991. His specialisation in the Horn of Africa has focused primarily on development, conflict analysis, peacebuilding, and local governance. In 1993-94, he served as special political advisor in the UN Operation in Somalia, and in 1994-95 was visiting civilian professor at the US Army Peacekeeping Institute. Among his recent publications are: Somalia: State Collapse and the Threat of Terrorism, 2004; “Governance without Government in Somalia” in International Security, 2007; “Somalia: Governance versus State-Building” in Building States to Build Peace, 2008

• Nana Mjavanadze is a free-lance researcher at the International Alliance for Advanced Judicial Studies (Institut des Hautes Etudes sur la Justice) in Paris and works in the management of international co-operation projects in the Justice sector at Louis Berger SAS. Her main research areas involve judicial and legal reforms in the post-Soviet States.

• Dzharkinai Musaeva is Professor at the International Ataturk Alatoo University in Kyrgyzstan and Head of the PhD program in Economics, professor of the Department of World Economy. She participated in 30 international scientific-research and educational projects such as Fulbright, TEMPUS, etc. and conferences, sponsored by American government, European Committee, USAID, World Bank, Soros, etc.

• Will Reno is Associate Professor of Political Science at Northwestern University. He is the author of Corruption and State Politics in Sierra Leone (Cambridge 1995) and Warlord Politics and African States (Lynne Rienner, 1999). He is currently completing his next book, The Evolution of Warfare in Independent Africa (forthcoming). His recent work focuses on the organization and political behaviour of armed groups in Africa’s recent conflicts. This research includes consideration of local-level authority structures in the context of opportunities to challenge (or complement?) State authority. He also has an interest in how officials inside and outside of Africa view these authority structures, and the roles that they play in their thinking about security, State-building and counterinsurgency.

• Ivan Samson (ed.) is Professor of economics and social sciences at UPMF Grenoble University. Researcher and expert in macroeconomics, development economics, transition economics, regional economics, institutional economics, epistemology, opinion surveys and data analyses. Director of large EU technical assistance contracts (Tacis, Meda) on reform of justice, administrative reform, capacity building and institutional reform of state administrations. Policy advisor at national level in Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine. Researcher and advisor in regional planning in Russia (Kaliningrad), Algeria, Morocco, Venezuela and Western Africa. Published recently a textbook of economics “Lecons d’économie contemporaine”, Sirey, Paris 2009, 736 p. (Dir).

• Josiane Tercinet (ed.) is Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Grenoble 2, Espace Europe. She is responsible for the Centre for Studies on Defence and Security, a department of the CESICE (Center for Studies of International Security and European Cooperation). She teaches International Relations, International Law, Law and Practice of Peace Operations. Among her recent publications are: « Relations internationales », Presses universitaires de Grenoble, handbook, 2006; « Nécessité de lutte contre le terrorisme et protection internationale des droits de l’homme », in Théodore Christakis (dir.), « La nécessité en droit international », Pédone, Paris, 2007; “Brèves remarques sur une Arlésienne : la définition du terrorisme au niveau universel”, in: mélanges en l’honneur du Professeur JF Guilhaudis, Bruylant, Brussels, 2007; “Les puissances occidentales et les opérations de paix”, AFRI, 2008

• Marc Valeri is lecturer in political economy at the University of Exeter (UK). He is the author of Oman, Politics and Society in the Qaboos State (Columbia University Press, 2009). Currently his main areas of interest are the social, political and economic transformations and reforms in the Arab Gulf States. Another research theme he is developing is about the issues of stability and the consolidation of authoritarianism in the Middle East, and more broadly the question of legitimacy in authoritarian and non-democratic regimes.

• Louise Wiuff Moe holds a MA in International Studies from the University of Stellenbosch under an exchange agreement with the International Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO). In 2008 she was a visiting researcher at the Academy for Peace and Development in Somaliland. Subsequently, she worked as a junior researcher for the Finnish Institute of International Affairs and Crisis Management Initiative in Helsinki. Currently Ms. Wiuff Moe is a Ph.D. candidate at ACPACS, University of Queensland.

• Anastassiya Zagainova is a researcher at CREPPEM-Espace Europe Institut, Université Pierre Mendès France, Grenoble, where she is PhD candidate in Economics. Her research interests concentrate on development and transition economics, the political economy of transition, specificities of post-Soviet economies, governance, and structural forms of corruption.

• Sebastian Ziaja is Researcher at the German Development Institute and has been working on State fragility, State-building, aid allocation and donor coordination. He holds a degree in Regional Studies Latin America from the University of Cologne.

Index

• Prologue: Claske Dijkema, Rethinking the foundations of the State in post-crisis situations

• Part I State formation

  • Introduction

  • 1. Alain Dieckhoff: Multinational democratic States: a reassessment

  • 2. Vladimir Mau: Economic Transition under Collapsed Government: Russian Development in the Context of European Revolutions

  • 3. Ingrid Bolivar, Fernán González, Silvia Otero: The Colombian armed conflict and the State Formation Process: Trends and Challenges

  • 4. Anne M. Brown Trajectories of State Transformation – political community in East Timor

  • 5. Helen Delfeld The Nation and the Hollow State, Imaginary of the Nation-State; reality of grassroots governance

  • 6. Josiane Tercinet: Fragile States and the Security Council: the Lebanon case. Sovereignty before the State?

• Part II Bottom up State transformation

  • Introduction

  • 7.Kenneth Menkhaus: Local Security Arrangements in Somali-Inhabited Areas of the Horn of Africa

  • 8. Louise Wiuff Moe The role of Traditional Authorities in State and Governance Building in Somaliland

  • 9. Gemma van der Haar State Formation in dispute: Local government as an arena in Chiapas, Mexico

  • 10. Tatiana Mamatova Non-governmental organisation as a substitute for the State? New roles, shared responsibilities in State-building in Kyrgyzstan

  • 11. Anastassiya Zagainova Patrimonial systems and features of virtuous clientelism: The case of Kazakhstan

• Part III Top down State transformation

  • Introduction

  • 12. Nana Mjavanadze Judiciary Reform in State Building: Searching for New Legitimacy

  • 13. Constance Chevallier-Govers: The European Union and the reconstruction of States

  • 14. Marc Valéri: Legitimacy-building in a post-civil war context: The case of the Sultanate of Oman after 1970

  • 15. Dzharkinai Musaeva Post crisis economic transformation in Kyrgyzstan

  • 16. Hrant Bagratyan Crisis and controversy: to centralize or to decentralize?

  • 17. Hervé Hutin: The three paradoxes of aid and State legitimization in post-2001 Afghanistan

  • 18. William Reno: The Evolution of the Project of Building Other People’s States

• Part IV State Development

  • Introduction

  • 19. Ivan Samson: State and Territory: the End of a Paradigm

  • 20. John Igue: Space and Territory: What are the issues for Peace, Democracy and the Reconstruction of the African State?

  • 21. Christel Alvergne Reconstruction from the Bottom-Up: Can it work? The UNCDF Intervention in Western Africa

  • 22. Sebastian Ziaja, Javier Fabra Mata State Fragility Indices: Lessons for Development Policy

• Epilogue

  • 23. Karine Gatelier: Questioning the demand for the State. An anthropological contribution.