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ID:
165974
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| Summary/Abstract |
Somalia, for many analysts, is the paradigmatic ‘failed state’, as well as the site of numerous external interventions since 1991. However, while early interventions were designed and directed by international actors, more recent peace operations have been led by regional states. The current African Union Mission in Somalia, AMISOM, has been presented by its supporters and financiers as a novel ‘African solution’ to a putative ‘African problem’. This article seeks to challenge analyses of AMISOM and other African peace operations that contrast ‘international’ approaches with ‘local’ or ‘African’ approaches, focusing instead on the region as a unit of analysis. In doing so, the study uses archival and interview data to interrogate how regional politico-military elites have viewed Somalia, their role within it and the kind of political authority they have wished to see established there since the genesis of AMISOM. The article finds that regional elites have sought to use AMISOM to impose a particular version of statehood on Somalia, based in both neo-Weberian institutionalist theory and their own domestic political experiences. This has entailed not only the rejection of central manifestations of Somali political authority but also the regional construction of Somalia itself as a failed state.
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| 2 |
ID:
142987
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| Summary/Abstract |
The main objective of this paper is to answer the question why the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) should play a central role in constructing new security architecture in East Asia. The main argument of the paper is that, unlike other regions, a number of factors account for the complicated conditions observed in the East Asian region that provide a chance for ASEAN to be a central player in this process, promising because small and middle powers rarely can abuse power.
In order to achieve this objective, the paper is divided into three parts. The first part will analyze the major obstacles to the building of a constructive new China-Japan relationship akin to the post-World War II (WWII) ties between France and Germany. The second part analyzes the pivot to Asia by the United States to consolidate its role as regional facilitator. The third part shows why ASEAN can take the lead as a driving force or catalyst in fostering regional cooperation, because as mentioned above neither China nor Japan can do it at this stage. The paper concludes that despite the fact that ASEAN still faces many weaknesses and limitations, it continues to serve as a central player in an emerging architecture where, so far, no new alternative has appeared.
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