States Within States Incipient Political Entities in the Post-Cold War Era

by Kingston, Paul; Spears, Ian

• ISBN13: 9781403963857
• ISBN10: 1403963851
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-04-17
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

Many states in the Third World remain fragile and prone to collapse because they face challenges from cohesive groups within their borders. Such groups form "states-within-states" having many of the functional characteristics of states--including administrative structures, defined territories, and armed militias--but their status remains contested and unclear. From Colombia to Lebanon, from Iraqi Kurdistan to the Sudan, the contests between central control and regional autonomy often turn violent and pose severe humanitarian challenges problematic to the international community given the norms of sovereignty and non-intervention in domestic affairs. Yet, these conditions have not always given way to anarchy. In some cases, the breakdown of weak and often arbitrary states has given way to more coherent and viable, though not necessarily benevolent, political entities. This book examines the extent to which these sub-units--"states within states"--represent alternatives that the international community could look to in a long-term effort to bring stability, security, and development to peoples in the Third World. This book will be of interest to practitioners and scholars alike in the fields of international relations, conflict resolution and peace-building, and development studies.

Author Biography

Paul Kingston is Associate Professor of Political Science and International Development Studies, University of Toronto. Ian S. Spears is Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Guelph.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction States-Within-States: Historical and Theoretical Perspectives	1	(14)
Paul Kingston
Chapter One States-Within-States: An Introduction to Their Empirical Attributes	15	(20)
Ian S. Spears
Chapter Two From De Facto States to States-Within-States: Progress, Problems, and Prospects	35	(12)
Scott Pegg
Chapter Three The Collapse of Sierra Leone and the Emergence of Multiple States-Within-States	47	(20)
William Reno
Chapter Four Sudan's South Blue Nile Territory and the Struggle Against Marginalization	67	(14)
John Young
Chapter Five Rebuilding A House of Many Mansions: The Rise and Fall of Militia Cantons in Lebanon	81	(18)
Paul Kingston and Marie Joelle Zahar
Chapter Six Colombia: The Partial Collapse of the State and the Emergence of Aspiring State-Makers	99	(20)
Ana Maria Bejarano and Eduardo Pizarro
Chapter Seven Providing Humanitarian Assistance Behind Rebel Lines: UNICEF's Eastern Zaire Operation 1996-1998	119	(16)
Lauchlan T. Munro
Chapter Eight Why Not to State-Build New Sudan	135	(18)
Kenn Crossley
Chapter Nine Safe Havens as Political Projects: The Case of Iraqi Kurdistan	153	(14)
David Romano
Chapter Ten State-Within-a-Failed-State: Somaliland and the Challenge of International Recognition	167	(22)
Matt Bryden	189	(1)
Conclusions and Policy Options	189	(4)
Paul Kingston and Ian S. Spears	193	(1)
Notes on Contributors	193	(2)
Index	195