Weak Or Failed States In Africa

State Definition In order to determine the causes and consequences of weak or failed states in Africa, it is important to first understand what qualifies a state. One approach to defining the state, which is the approach I will use, is using Max Weber’s mainstream definition of the modern state. The key factor attributed to Weber’s ideal state is a complete monopoly on the use of force within a given territory (Jackson and Rosberg, 1928: 2). The relative strength and weakness of a state depends on its capacity to fulfil the requirements laid out by Weber. According to Weber’s definition, there are numerous states in Africa that would not be considered states. So states that are considered weak or failed have relatively little control of the

There are many causes and consequences of state failures and it is increasingly difficult to generalize them in the broad context of the African continent. Upon reviewing the literature provided on weak and failed states in Africa, many different causes and consequences were outlined and will be discussed with case studies taken from Somalia before and after its state collapse and Sierra Leone before its implosion. Some of these causes and consequences can be used interchangeably since the causes of state failure can also be consequences as they prevail and continue to maintain a weak or failed state. Also, these causes and consequences are often interrelated and reinforce each other. The most prominent causes of a weak or failed state are ethnic conflicts that divided the state, ineffective governments that unequally distribute resources, and conditional international intervention that was typically Eurocentric in ideology and therefore not compatible with systems within African traditional cultures; consequently, this led to the states’ inability to provide political goods to their people. I will look at the cases of the Somalia’s collapsed state and Sierra Leone’s failed state to see how the failure of these states have

As refugees displaced northern farmers and the government confiscated even-larger tracts of land for their resettlement, fighting broke out between the malnourished refugees, the Somali Armed forces, and the dispossessed farmers. This eventually led to the 1991 civil war. As resettlement continued in the north, it became clear that areas in the south and around Mogadishu would need to be opened for resettlement if all refugees were to receive land. This upset the southern clans, which were previously loyal to Barre’s regime, and an insurgency began shortly after the arrival of the first refugees. (Powell et al., 2006: