MAKING AND BREAKING STATES IN AFRICA: The Somali Experience

This book analyzes crucial episodes in the recent political history of the Somali people. In their complicated dialogue with modernity , the Somalis illustrate the extremes of modern African statehood. In contemporary Somalia which, for twenty years has not been a functional political reality, they have produced a failed state par excellence. In the neighboring and smaller Somaliland Republic, however, they have achieved what is widely regarded as one of the more effective states in the continent. Ironically while dysfunctional Somalia, despite its collapse, is still internationally recognized, functional Somaliland has yet to receive formal recognition. The successful political integration achieved in Somaliland is the result of a long-drawn out process of indigenous, low budget, grass-roots peace-making and nation-building , without parallel in Somalia. There, the peace-process , has chiefly been the work of external agencies (at huge cost), with insufficient knowledge of, and sensit