Insurgency is the New 'State' - an Assessment of Rebel-Based Governments in Africa and the State-Centered Perspective on International Politics

Abstract: Numerous post-conflict states in contemporary Africa are run by individuals who derive their origins from rebellion. Some take over or even improve existing state structures when seizing power, whereas others contribute to the fragmentation of the state. By comparing four insurgent movements that have managed to wrest state power; the NRA, the EPLF, the NPFL, and the USC, this study finds that societies with a history of statehood seem to foster state-consolidating groupings whereas state-subverting dittos arise in societies with a more personalized system of rule. While this is not to say that certain countries are ?doomed to anarchy?, it points to the importance of political culture and highlights the difficulty to impose centralized institutions on societies where the appropriate prerequisites do not exist. The above findings are fused with ?failed states? theories and it is argued that the contemporary response to state failure?state-building?might not be suitable in all countries across the globe. The prevailing state-centered perspective on politics has to be abandoned; instead of focusing solely on ?state?, more attention ought to be given to ?insurgency? in order to assess the possibility to establish alternative polities more closely based in the structures and values of indigenous societies.