Local State‐Building in Afghanistan and Somaliland

Unpacking the local turn in peacebuilding: a critical assessment towards an agenda for future research

“…These conclude that the functioning of hybrid structures depends entirely on the interest of local elites. 67 These findings warrant caution with regard to the concept of hybridity and its portrayal as a local empowering alternative to liberal peacebuilding. Such co-optation of hybrid peace governance structures can lead to elite capture.…”

“…To this end, elites use the state as well as other hybrid governance arrangements as sources of income, power and legitimacy, penetrating these structures with the explicit aim of undermining them for the sake of their own well-being. 68 This is the case, for example, in Afghanistan, Lebanon and the Philippines, where a mafia-like criminal elite has captured the entire state. 69 It is particularly evident in Africa, where the notion of hybridity was already being debated among African studies scholars in the 1980s and 1990s.…”

Dysfunctional state institutions, trust, and governance in areas of limited statehood

“…In this context, Schäferhoff (, ) has shown that trust within Somali indigenous communities provided them with the capacity to act in the fight against HIV/AIDS and to accept foreign assistance as legitimate in the provinces of Somaliland and Puntland, despite the complete absence of central state authorities (see also Debiel et al . ; Beisheim & Liese ). Hölck () found that Spanish colonial rule in Sonora (Mexico) and Araukania (Southern Chile) was only effective to the extent that personal trust relationships developed between colonial authorities and indigenous communities (see also Rinke et al .…”

The impact of multinational enterprises on public governance institutions in areas of limited statehood

“…There is a dearth of research on the specific roles and effects that MNEs have played in the Afghan reconstruction process, or analysis of the process and experience at the organizational level. What does exist is studies on efforts to determine and justify reconstruction and development agendas (McKechnie, 2003), comparisons on development practice, as implemented in Afghanistan, with development and reconstruction theory (Barakat & Chard, 2002;Ritchie, 2016), assessment of the contribution and effects of donor aid and development programs (Koehler & Zürcher, 2007), analysis of state-building theory and practice in Afghanistan (Debiel et al, 2009), evaluation of the possible impacts of natural resource extraction for development and reconstruction agendas, and analysis of the challenges and hopes for private sector development (Shroder, 2008). This study therefore provides a unique perspective on a topic that is important to large parts of the developing world and a region which has long played a vital role as a crossroads between civilizations and trade routes (Kidd, 2007).…”