Ungoverned Spaces and Regional Insecurity: The Case of Mali

Lloyd, Robert B.

doi:10.1353/sais.2016.0012

Cited by 10 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…38 The present-day Federation of Northern Syria Rojava, Mali and Somaliland have demonstrated how ungoverned spaces are able to pose as an enormous threat to international security. 39 Fundamentally, it should be noted that ungoverned spaces are not only situated in rural areas, they are also found in urban environments. There are numerous factors that encourage criminal or terrorist organizations to dwell in ungoverned spaces, these include the inability of the government to penetrate the area; absence of government authorities; lack of physical infrastructure; and inability of the government to exercise a monopoly of force.…”

Section: The Nexus Between Ungoverned Spaces and Insecuritymentioning

confidence: 99%

Governing “Ungoverned Spaces” in the Foliage of Conspiracy: Toward (Re)ordering Terrorism, from Boko Haram Insurgency, Fulani Militancy to Banditry in Northern Nigeria

Ojo

2020

African Security

108

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This article explores the dominant narrative of ill-governed or ungoverned territories in the northern region of Nigeria where informality and socioeconomic deficit fashioned the mannerism of everyday life. Reconnoitering ungoverned territories, positing that radical jihadist and non-jihadist movements and criminal-armed groups are ideologically driven by localism and informal networks, particularly in the areas unkempt by the state. The paper interrogates to what extent ungoverned spaces embolden the recruitment of criminal and terrorist groups in northern Nigeria. It explains the complex security paradoxes confronting the Nigerian state, it analyses the Boko Haram insurgency, Fulani militancy and banditry within the context of ungoverned spaces that continuously breed terrorist organizations, and criminal networks, that pose an enormous risk to human security. It adopts a qualitative approach and spatial network analysis using Geographical Information System (GIS). The paper argues that the primordial negligence of ungoverned areas with limited state surveillance or unharmonized state presence, controlled by informal networks and hybrid arrangements creates an enabling environment for warlordism, religious fanaticism and tribal self-defense forces. It further demonstrates that governance failure in these regions stimulates illegal movement of arms and ammunition, the raw material for bombs, illegal drugs and foreign machines, and becomes abodes for Boko Haram jihadist and non-Boko Haram armed groups. The paper concludes that ungoverned spaces could be morphed into a production site for Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) by the terrorists in the near future, thus, until the Nigerian state pays attention to the territories under-governed or poorly governed, it will become difficult to win the war against terrorism, Fulani militancy and banditry through military response. Therefore, good governance that transcends ethnic chauvinism remains a veritable weapon in conquering multilayered security quagmires facing the giant of Africa.

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Section: The Nexus Between Ungoverned Spaces and Insecuritymentioning

confidence: 99%