Bringing the Outside In: Somaliland, Statebuilding, and Dual Hybridity

Richards, Rebecca

Abstract

International norms of what it means to be a state dictate domestic policy within developing and unrecognized states but must co-exist with internal demands. With a mutual dependence between internal and external considerations and, indeed, legitimacy, at the fore of Somaliland’s statebuilding project and its stability, it is a useful study in achieving ‘success’ in statebuilding and in what success can mean in bringing together internal and external demands. This article examines the impact of the hybrid inclusion of traditional authority in the central democratic government as the marriage between internal and external demands. This article argues that the Somaliland state is successful because it is a flexible process rather than a project; a process that reflects the demands and expectations of society, an aspect that is often absent in statebuilding projects.

Citation

Richards, R. (2015). Bringing the Outside In: Somaliland, Statebuilding, and Dual Hybridity. Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, 9(1), 4 - 25. https://doi.org/10.1080/17502977.2014.991074

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 20, 2014
• Publication Date: Feb 27, 2015
• Journal: Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding
• Print ISSN: 1750-2977
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 9
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 4 - 25
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17502977.2014.991074
• Keywords: statebuilding; Somaliland; hybrid governance; traditional authority; liberal governance; unrecognised states
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/17502977.2014.991074