In the last decade of the 20th Century Somalia made the headlines around the world as the place where a UN force had been withdrawn from due to losses inflicted on US and other troops by members of groups associated with two warlords. In the latter part of the first decade of the 21st Century Somalia was again in the global headlines, but this time associated with acts of piracy committed off its coastline. Behind these headlines lay a complex mixture of problems stretching back as far as the early colonisation of the lands that became Somalia and populated with western European concepts ill suited to the peoples of those lands. The loss of effective government opened the door to neo colonial issues of illegal fishing and hazardous waste dumping that contributed to the piracy problem. Finely interwoven amongst all these issues runs a thread of international law. This thesis examines that thread as it runs through the concept of state failure and asks if it is a legal term and what legal consequences, if any, are attached to it. It examines the international legal frameworks that support fishing and hazardous waste dumping and seeks to understand why they have not prevented illegal fishing and the illegal dumping of hazardous waste off the coast of Somalia. This thesis then examines the concept of piracy as applied to Somalian pirates and seeks answers to questions as to what it is and how it has been applied. It looks at the use of private security as a response and seeks to find the legitimation for their actions in relation to pirates. Sewn throughout is a comparison of responses and suggestions for improvement to international law.

International Legal Aspects of State Failure The phenomenon of failed states is one of the great issues in our contemporary world. International public law does not take it into consideration and still, it exists. Whether the phenomenon is designated as a collapse of a state, collapse of a state authority, state failure, or as a collapsed, failed, failing state or otherwise, there is nowadays much more attention attached to it from the ranks of statesmen and representatives of international organizations. That is why I chose to deal with this issue. The content of this work is structured from the most general topic regarding this issue, which means from general definition of the term, characteristics of a failed state as a phenomenon in expert, not only legal, discussion and it's difference from similiar phenomenons towards particular aspects arising from public international law and summarization of a situation in some of real failed or failing states. In second chapter, there is a general characterization of the phenomenon itself, mostly from the factual perspective with use of mostly international law and political science literature. There is also defined, which approach has been taken regarding the issue. In third chapter, the work is dedicated purely to international law aspects of state...

This research examines the relationship between grand power strategies of revisionism and status quoism and behavior toward failed states in the Middle East. This research is driven by four interrelated questions: Do the grand strategies determine the behavior of regional powers (expansion or non-expansion) toward failed states? Do revisionist powers expand while status quo powers donot? Do status quo powers balance against revisionist powers when such expansion occurs? Do revisionist powers balance against each other over failed state(s)? Finally, do revisionist and status quo powers align together to balance against other revisionist power(s)? To examine these questions, this dissertation proposes four hypotheses. First, revisionist powers, not status quo powers, expand into failed states by taking advantage of the power vacuum created by state failure. Secondly, since this expansion by revisionist powers threatens the existing power distribution, status quo powers take balancing measures against the expanding power(s). Third, revisionist powers are also expected to balance against each other over failed states if they fail to agree on dividing the spoils. Fourth, when revisionist powers balance against each other, alliance is likely to develop between revisionist and status quo powers against the most threatening expanding power. This research examines the behavior of six regional powers of Egypt, Iran, Israel, Saudi, Syria (1970-2010), and Turkey toward four cases of state failure of Yemen 1962-1970, Lebanon 1975-1989, Yemen 2004-2020, and Syria 2011-2020).

The phenomenon of state dysfunction has, over the last two decades, become a prominent empirical and scholarly concern internationally and, more recently, domestically. This study endeavours to extend and improve the understanding of dysfunctional states in the scientific domain – in the developing world in general, as well as the South African context in particular. Given the dearth of conceptual literature in the field of dysfunctional states, the first part of this study concerns the pursuit of a novel conceptualisation of state dysfunction, premised upon the Weberian state as a comprehensive point of departure. Subsequently, meta-theoretical, theoretical, applicational and operational frameworks are developed through which this concept may be integrated by using a scientific method and ultimately studied empirically in pursuit of valid and reliable knowledge pertaining to the phenomenon. The outcome of the above-mentioned process is a multi-criteria operational framework that enables evaluation and analysis with the purpose of determining the approximation to – and extent of – state dysfunction in a given empirical context. Accordingly, the second part of this study concerns the evaluation and analysis of the South African state. The outcome of this process is an account of South African state dysfunction that is at once comprehensive and thorough. / PhD (Political Studies), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

The phenomenon of state dysfunction has, over the last two decades, become a prominent empirical and scholarly concern internationally and, more recently, domestically. This study endeavours to extend and improve the understanding of dysfunctional states in the scientific domain – in the developing world in general, as well as the South African context in particular. Given the dearth of conceptual literature in the field of dysfunctional states, the first part of this study concerns the pursuit of a novel conceptualisation of state dysfunction, premised upon the Weberian state as a comprehensive point of departure. Subsequently, meta-theoretical, theoretical, applicational and operational frameworks are developed through which this concept may be integrated by using a scientific method and ultimately studied empirically in pursuit of valid and reliable knowledge pertaining to the phenomenon. The outcome of the above-mentioned process is a multi-criteria operational framework that enables evaluation and analysis with the purpose of determining the approximation to – and extent of – state dysfunction in a given empirical context. Accordingly, the second part of this study concerns the evaluation and analysis of the South African state. The outcome of this process is an account of South African state dysfunction that is at once comprehensive and thorough. / PhD (Political Studies), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

<p>Through the increase in globalization over the last twenty years the world has become ’smaller’. The many positive aspects of the phenomenon sometimes make us overlook the negative aspects of globalization. Just as economic markets and communication has moved beyond national borders one of the most negative aspects of society has also become global, namely terrorism. As terrorism has moved on to the global spectrum so has the prevention of terrorism. National governments that are trying to combat terrorism have begun to realize that problems that other nations are facing in another continent could eventually affect their national security. Other nation states that are experiencing state failure may become a national security risk. The aim of this thesis is to examine if global terrorist organizations take advantage of the many problems that a nation faces when it is subject to state failure. It has not been to examine the phenomenon of global terrorism itself or why certain nation states fail. It has rather been to see if there is a connection between the two and if so, how do global terrorist organizations take advantage of these opportunities?</p><p>The most famous, or infamous, global terrorist organization al Qaeda has on many occasions used the fact that a state is experiencing failure to their advantage. Many of the more common problems that a failed state will face (loss of territorial control, disastrous domestic economy, and bad leadership) have been exploited by al Qaeda who have been able to build an effective infrastructure, build training cams and religious schools, and gain public support in two of the most troubled nations in the world; Afghanistan and Sudan.</p><p>The conclusion that can be drawn from this examination of the connection between global terrorism and failed states is that terrorist organizations have on several occasions taken advantage of the problems associated with state failure in order to become stronger and build a working infrastructure. It is, however, important to note that terrorism is very rarely the reason fore state failure. Furthermore, the fact that a sate is experiencing state failure does not automatically mean that it will be a breathing ground for global terrorism.</p>

This thesis focuses on the use of the term &lsquo / failed state&rsquo / as a category in the US foreign policy discourse in the post Cold War era. The concept of &lsquo / failed state&rsquo / is critically examined in terms of its methodological and ontological flaws. It is suggested that the primary methodological flaw of the failed state discourse is its atomistic and essentialist approach which describes &lsquo / state failure&rsquo / as an internal problem which needs external solutions. By rejecting the internal/external dichotomy, the dialectical method is offered as an alternative to examine the use of the term in the US foreign policy discourse in the post Cold War era. It is argued here that failed state discourse is used as a means in the justification of an international order based on &lsquo / preemptive strikes&rsquo / and unilateral economic, political and military interventions. Building upon this ideological function of failed state discourse, the current discusssions on state failure is related to contemporary debates on imperialism.

This master thesis deals with the approaches of international actors, especially UN, EU and USA, to the concept of failed states, which are demonstrated on the illustrative example of a state of this category, i.e. Somalia. We think of failed states as a security threat, with which the international community provisionally cannot deal. The master thesis discusses how the international actors deal with this issue in terms of its solution and how they think of the failed states in terms of sovereignty. On the selected case of Somalia it is subsequently illustrated that approaches of selected international actors are not very heterogeneous. The international community agrees to support the central government, although it is not recognized in the whole territory of the state, and endeavors to rebuild a functional state. Although the state is internally totally dysfunctional, its external sovereignty is still recognized.

State failure impacts international relations through the spill-over effects it has beyond the failed state. The international response to state failure: The case of Somalia attempts to answer the research question "Is the international response to the failed Somalia more concerned with security (i.e. the fight against terrorism and piracy) than with nation building/democratization or humanitarian aid (refugees, poverty)? This question is answered through descriptive-analytical research approach using the Neo-Realist theory within a globalised world. Concepts of legitimacy, authority and sovereignty in relation to the international response are explored where response takes the form of Intervention and humanitarian intervention that could be informed by the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) or go as far as nation building. Various annually published indices that examine and rank failed states are analysed which collectively and independently indicate that Somalia has been the number one failed state since 2008. Historically, the international response to Somalia prior to state collapse in 1991 forms the foundation to the response as well as accounting for the importance of complex internal clan politics. The background to how the international response has been, plays a key role in understanding where the international response‘s motives are positioned on scale of humanitarian versus security motives for intervention. The regional dynamics are explained through the Regional Security Complex (RSC). The security power political motives are seen through Anti-terror motives in a post 9/11 world and the various international responses to the different forms of attempts of interim governments and their opposition movements. Most notably, Al Shabaab, who formally merged with Al Qaeda in 2012, has been a focus point for the international response. The African Union (AU) mission in Somalia AMISOM is analysed from its humble beginnings to a force to be reckoned with. Due to the failure in Somalia for over 20 years, 14 per cent of its population form part of the influential Diaspora group. State building has emerged as one of the major international responses to state failure with the motive of avoiding nationwide humanitarian crisis. Yet the inaction of the past decade has lead to large spread famine in 2011. The security motive of regional and international players has overshadowed a pure humanitarian response in the past but the immensity of the crisis in 2011 has lead to a global humanitarian response. A new window of opportunity has presented itself with the appointment of the new president of the National Constituent Assembly (NCA) in September 2012. The international response to state failure has placed security first and has acted accordingly to limit the international economic and security effects of piracy, terrorism and refugee flows. Nation building has come second although, there have been attempts at achieving a uniform response to the failure in Somalia, neo realist real politik reigns. The ideal of a golden mean, where a balance is achieved between security and humanitarian motives, could only be achieved if Somalia starts addressing its internal issues that have caused and resulted from the failure, which is far from straightforward. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Political Sciences / unrestricted

Este trabalho tem como objetivo avaliar o papel da autoridade estatal e do desenvolvimento na estabilidade dos Estados da África Subsaariana e a influência que têm nos processos de falência estatal e de eclosão de guerras intraestatais. Desde o fim da Guerra Fria, a corrente de pensamento que fundia segurança e desenvolvimento tornou-se predominante para analisar as causas e fornecer sugestões de políticas para impedir que os Estados sucumbissem a dinâmicas de violência, fomentadas por necessidade, ganância e agravo - todos gerados e intensificados em situações de subdesenvolvimento. Palco de boa parte dos países menos desenvolvidos (PMDs) do mundo e da grande maioria dos conflitos intraestatais que ocorreram nos últimos trinta anos, a África Subsaariana foi retratada como locus immutabilis, cujos problemas tinham poucas ou nenhuma solução possível. Desta forma, o subdesenvolvimento endêmico da região foi usado como guarda-chuva conceitual uma vez que intensificaria as consequências nocivas de certos tipos de regimes políticos, da distribuição desigual das riquezas e oportunidades econômicas e da incompatibilidade étnica que existiria em seus países. Seguindo esta linha de pensamento, bastaria resolver a situação do subdesenvolvimento nos Estados da África Subsaariana que seus processos de falência seriam revertidos e as guerras civis não mais aconteceriam. No entanto, é possível questionar esta relação entre segurança e desenvolvimento dado que países que têm o mesmo nível de subdesenvolvimento diferiram em seus destinos, tendo alguns sucumbido às dinâmicas violentas e outros não. Este trabalho pretende, portanto, identificar as causas das guerras civis e da falência de Estados na região. Este trabalho argumenta que é a baixa autoridade estatal (e não o subdesenvolvimento) a condição determinante para o advento de guerras civis e da falência de Estado na África Subsaariana. Para chegar a tal resultado, analisou-se os dados de 44 Estados da região fornecidos pelo Worldwide Governance Indicators do Banco Mundial e os mesmos dados utilizados pela ONU para classificar os PMDs. Também se utilizou análise qualitativa sobre a história dos países onde a paz imperou desde a independência para avaliar as fundações da autoridade estatal. / This thesis looks forward to assessing the role of state authority and development in the stability of Sub-Saharan African states and their influence on state failure processes and on the outbreak of intra-state wars. Since the end of the Cold War, the current of thought that merged security and development has become prevalent in analysing the causes and in providing policy suggestions to prevent states from succumbing to dynamics of violence fuelled by need, greed, and grievance - which are generated and intensified in situations of underdevelopment. As the stage for most of the world\'s least developed countries and the largest number of intrastate conflicts that have taken place over the last thirty years, Sub-Saharan Africa has been portrayed as locus immutabilis, whose problems had few or none feasible solutions. In this regard, the region\'s endemic underdevelopment was used as a conceptual umbrella since it would intensify the harmful consequences of certain types of political regimes, of the unequal distribution of wealth and economic opportunities, and the ethnic incompatibility that would exist in their countries. Following this line of thought, resolving the situation of underdevelopment in Sub-Saharan African states would suffice to reverse processes of state failure and civil wars would no longer happen. However, it is possible to question this relationship between security and development since countries that have the same level of underdevelopment had different outcomes, having some of them capitulated to violent dynamics and others not. This thesis therefore aims to identify the causes of civil wars and state failure in the region. It argues that it is the low level of state authority (and not underdevelopment) that is the determining factor for the advent of civil wars and state failure in Sub-Saharan Africa. In order to achieve this result data from 44 countries in the region provided by the World Bank\'s Worldwide Governance Indicators and the same data used by the UN to classify the LDCs were analysed. Qualitative analysis was also conducted about the history of countries where peace has prevailed since independence to assess the foundations of state authority.