In other words, state authority, effectiveness and legitimacy in the Horn are weakened by the damaging effects of violent conflict, and state fragility manifests itself in and contributes to the conflict process with a serious consequence to the contemporary sub-regional security (Clapham 2017:17 Coleman and Tieku 2018:13). Violent conflict and state fragility fuel each other in the Horn of Africa as realities on the ground demonstrate. Conflict dynamics may be conceptualised as a cause, a symptom or a consequence of state fragility. Conflict dynamics, on the other hand, are violent, variable, interactive, and interdependent acts, which are manifestations of the urgency of the needs and goals of the actors. By their very nature, fragile states lack the functional authority to provide basic security within their borders, the institutional capacity to provide basic social needs for their populations, and the political legitimacy to effectively represent their citizens at home and abroad (Clapham 2005:6–10). Such weakness leads to corruption, ineffectiveness, undemocratic practices, as well as failure of state authority and legitimacy. State fragility, in this context, is the weakness of state institutions to provide physical security, including the basic good of the survival of citizens. While research on natural resource or ethnic identity-based conflicts in the Horn of Africa is widely available, studies which examine how the state fragility–conflict dynamics nexus shapes, and has implications for, the contemporary security of the sub-region are rather limited. It is hoped that the recent rapprochement between Eritrea and Ethiopia, albeit at an embryonic stage, is and will be a positive force capable of bringing about a paradigm shift in security structure, and inducing a viable and sustainable economic, political and security community in the Horn of Africa. Hence, a new and innovative approach to contemporary security and political commitment are sine qua non since the existing institutions and policies are not fully capable of coping with the need for a new security regionalism. The presence of extra-regional security actors, who are competing for military bases along the coast of Djibouti, the spill-over effects of violence in Yemen, and the Iran–Saudi power rivalry, together with incompetent regional political leadership, tend to shape the security of the Horn. Analysis of the regional security complex (RSC) and empirical data from the field reveal that conflict dynamics feed and fuel state fragility in the Horn of Africa sub-region. Qualitatively designed, this study attempts to explore and explain security implications of such a nexus. AbstractĪlthough research on natural resource and ethnic identity-based conflict abounds, studies which critically examine how the state fragility–conflict nexus shapes the contemporary security of the Horn of Africa are rather limited. From 2007 to 2009 he was Director of the Institute for Peace and Security Studies (IPSS) at Addis Ababa University. He is Assistant Professor of Peacebuilding and Global Security at Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. degree from the University of Bradford, UK.
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