Fragile Peace : State Failure, Violence and Development in Crisis Regions

by Edited by Tobias Debiel and Axel Klein

• ISBN13: 9781842771716
• ISBN10: 184277171X
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2002-11-16
• Publisher: Zed Books

Summary

The contributors to this volume explore a number of regions in which internal violence and conflict stubbornly persist, and why domestic and international efforts to re-establish order, human security, democratic processes, and an economy capable of developing, are proving so difficult to achieve. Particular attention is given to three important regions - the Caucasus, Central America and the Horn of Africa.

Author Biography

Tobias Debiel is Research Fellow of the Development and Peace Foundation in Bonn, and author and editor of numerous publications in the field of peace and conflict research.

Axel Klein works at the Institute for African Alternatives, London.

Table of Contents

Boxes, tables and maps	ix
The Development and Peace Foundation	x
Notes on the contributors	xi
Abbreviations	xv
Foreword	xvi
Uwe Holtz
Introduction Do Crisis Regions Have a Chance of Lasting Peace? The Difficult Transformation from Structures of Violence	1	(3)
Tobias Debiel
The crisis of the state as a cause of war and an obstacle to development	4	(3)
Structures and the changing form of violence	7	(1)
The difficult transformation of countries ravaged by war	8	(7)
Experiences from selected crisis regions	15	(10)
Regional conflict management in the light of September 11	25	(6)
PART ONE State Failure and the Transformation of War-torn Societies	31	(56)
The Reconstruction and Transformation of War-Torn Societies and State Institutions: How Can External Actors Contribute?	33	(23)
Nicole Ball
Defining peace-building	35	(1)
Priority peace-building tasks	36	(3)
Donor roles and responsibilities in supporting the rebuilding of war-torn societies	39	(2)
Building on local needs and capacities	41	(1)
Creating sustained partnerships	42	(4)
Enhancing the effectiveness of peace-building assistance	46	(2)
Restarting government	48	(4)
Conclusion	52	(4)
An Independent Judiciary in Crisis Regions: Challenges for International Law in Cases of State Failure and Armed Conflicts	56	(16)
Hans-Joachim Heintze
An independent judiciary in crisis regions	57	(2)
Safeguarding an independent judiciary in cases of state failure	59	(6)
Practical experience in the role of law following conflicts	65	(2)
General findings derived from UN practice	67	(5)
Decentralization, Division of Power and Crisis Prevention: A Theoretical Exploration with Reference to Africa	72	(15)
Andreas Mehler
Decentralization and the intensification of conflict	73	(4)
Political transformation through decentralization?	77	(2)
Opportunities of decentralization	79	(3)
Conclusion	82	(5)
PART TWO Crisis Regions between Violence and Development	87	(102)
State-building and Solving Conflicts in the South Caucasus	89	(21)
Rainer Freitag-Wirminghaus
Conflict constellations following the demise of the Soviet Union	89	(4)
The weakness of state structures as a cause of conflict	93	(2)
Takeover of power by national independence movements	95	(1)
Return of the old elites	96	(2)
Presidential rule and an all-powerful executive	98	(3)
External influences and new alliances	101	(2)
The Karabakh conflict: a key role for the South Caucasus	103	(1)
Peace proposals made by the Minsk Group and the common-state model	104	(2)
Key West and the boundaries of authoritarian presidential rule	106	(4)
Human Security, Liberal Democracy and the Power of Nationalism: The State Crisis in Georgia and Possible Solutions	110	(19)
David Darchiashvili
Conditions for creating state security	112	(2)
Human and national security in Georgia	114	(4)
The international stage and the role of Russia	118	(1)
Internal failings	119	(3)
How can the vicious circle of nationalism founded on ethnicity be broken?	122	(7)
The Central American Conflict System: External Players and Changing Violence	129	(17)
Sabine Kurtenbach
The Central American conflict system	130	(3)
The pacification of Central America	133	(4)
Transformation of violence	137	(2)
External players	139	(2)
The Central American state as a peace-building player	141	(5)
Stagnant Transformation: Democratic Transition and Military Conversion in Guatemala	146	(10)
Bernardo Arevalo De Leon
The return of civilian politics	147	(2)
Precarious democracy in a weak state	149	(1)
The continuing `relative autonomy' of the military	150	(2)
Conclusion	152	(4)
The Horn of Turbulence: Political Regimes in Transition	156	(15)
Axel Klein
Root causes of conflict: resource conflicts, environmental degradation and the role of the state	161	(2)
Diverse mechanisms of conflict resolutions: is there a modern/traditional dichotomy?	163	(4)
Conclusion for external actors	167	(4)
Ethiopia: Crisis of State, Good Governance and the Reform of the Security Sector	171	(18)
Siegfried Pausewang
Historical review	172	(2)
A new federal government for Ethiopia	174	(1)
The experiment with democracy and good governance	175	(2)
Arrogance of state power and the failure of democracy	177	(2)
The security sector and the judiciary in Ethiopia	179	(4)
The equivalence of party and state: the state belongs to the power-holders	183	(2)
Conclusions and future perspectives	185	(4)
PART THREE Regional Conflict Management in the Light of September 11	189	(22)
`Privatized Violence' and the Terror of September 11: Challenges to Foreign, Security and Development Policy	191	(20)
Tobias Debiel
Security, self-defence and `privatized violence'	192	(4)
Recourse to multilateralism or a renaissance of geopolitics?	196	(3)
Consequences for selected crisis regions	199	(3)
Reorientation of foreign, security and development policy	202	(9)
EPILOGUE `New Realism' or `New Development': Meeting the Challenges of Identity Conflicts, Organized Crime and Transnational Terrorism	211	(16)
Axel Klein
James Oporia-Ekwaro
The complex causality of conflict	211	(2)
Identity and justice	213	(3)
State failure and responses	216	(4)
Meeting the terrorist threat: new realism or new development	220	(7)
Index	227