State-building in Somalia: Voices from the “International community” and the “Somali diaspora”

Abstract: Somalia has been a failed state since 1991, which has made it questionable whether the country would be able to rebuild its state. This thesis aims at understanding the factors affecting the state-building process in the country based on voices from interviewees belonging to the “International community” and the “Somali diaspora”. To gain an understanding of what implications the factors could have on the reconstitution of a Somali state, a Weberian inspired theoretical framework was applied. This thesis argues that three main categories i.e. political, social and economic factors can be identified as having implications on the state-building process. However, the political aspects are highlighted as the most important. Furthermore it is argued that the ideal state model, as a Eurocentric discourse, evolves to the “hegemonic powers” advantage, thus supporting their dominant position, which makes it questionable if the Somali state can adapt to such a model.