Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Gabriel Fridegotto outline

Gabriel Fridegotto
Professor Shirk
International Organization
Paper Outline

There are one hundred nighty five recognized sovereign states in world. Many states were added after WWII, after the collapse of both colonialism and the soviet Union. One of the externally recognized nations, Somaliland is still struggling to become a true state. It lacks internal sovereignty because it has not been able to gain a stable central government since 1991. The question is, how can we assess the likelihood of Somaliland becoming its own state? Finding answers to this question is difficult because of the long history of Somalia, and its political and economic situation. Comparing the nation building aspects of other states, such as South Sudan, Kosovo and East Timor to Somalia is important and determining if there can be a similar outcomes in the future. The argument is that if Somaliland can learn lessons from other countries who have successfully gain stable independent sovereignty, then it may gain full sovereignty as well.
Examining Somalia's colonialist past is important, to understand why it has had so many issues with establishing a stable sovereign central government. Many of the nations that I examining also went through years of colonization, and being divided by religious, ethic and political groups. The example of Kosovo's independence came at the hands of a major military operation. Their sovereignty is still not recognized by Russia. Also, in the Case of Timor-Leste, one of the newest nations in the world, had to endure years of colonialism in south Asia by the nation of Indonesia. This is how I intend to structure my paper, looking at the lessons learned and the steps taken by these new independent sovereign nations around the world, and see if Somalia under the same conditions could achieve the same outcome.



Works Cited
Anthony S. Reyner, Somalia: The Problems of Independence, Middle East Journal , Vol. 14, No. (Summer, 1960), pp. 247-255.

Ken Menkhaus, Governance without Government in Somalia Spoilers, State Building, and the Politics of Coping, International Security, Vol. 31, No. 3 (Winter, 2006/2007), pp. 74-106.

Markus V. Höhne, Political Identity, Emerging State Structures and Conflict in Northern Somalia, The Journal of Modern African Studies, Vol. 44, No. 3 (Sep., 2006), pp. 397-414.

Christopher, Anthony J. "Secession and South Sudan: an African precedent for the future?." South African Geographical Journal 93, no. 2 (December 2011): 125-132. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed November 19, 2013).

Mayotte, Judy. "Civil War in Sudan: The Paradox of Human Rights and National Sovereignty."Journal Of International Affairs47, no. 2 (Winter94 1994): 497.

Carole Rogel, Kosovo: Where It All Began, International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society , Vol. 17, No. 1, Studies in the Social History of Destruction: The Case of Yugoslavia (Fall, 2003), pp. 167-182.


Charles A. Kupchan, Independence for Kosovo: Yielding to Balkan Reality, Foreign Affairs, Vol. 84, No. 6 (Nov. - Dec., 2005), pp. 14-20.

KOETH, Wolfgang. "The Serbia-Kosovo Agreement on Kosovo's Regional Representation and the 'Feasibility Study':A Breakthrough in EU - Kosovo Relations?." European Foreign Affairs Review 18, no. 1 (February 2013): 127-144. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed November 19, 2013).

Myrttinen, Henri. "Resistance, Symbolism and the Language of Stateness in Timor-Leste."Oceania 83, no. 3 (November 2013): 208-220. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed November 19, 2013).

Economides, Spyros. "Kosovo, Self-Determination and the International Order." Europe-Asia Studies 65, no. 5 (July 2013): 823-836.Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed November 19,
2013).

Joseph Nevins, Timor-Leste in 2006: The End of the Post-Independence Honeymoon
Asian Survey, Vol. 47, No. 1 (January/February 2007), pp. 162-167.



3 comments:

  1. Good topic. You could look at the historical differences between the countries as well as the ethnic or religious demographics differences, as they play a role in state formation.

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  2. Hi Gabe,

    You chose an interesting topic. I think you have a clear view for how you will develop your argument, but I would caution against coming to any conclusive statements that those models will or will not work to improve Somaliland sovereignty. In your comparison I think you should give equal attention to the factors that would impede on Somaliland sovereignty. What are the pre-conditions necessary for Somaliland sovereignty? In your comparison, I think you should draw equal attention to the preconditions that Somaliland lacks relative to your case studies. Good luck!

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  3. We spoke about the similarities between our topics but I forgot I had to write it on the blog. Well like we discussed the topic is controversial because of the unequal balance of power in the international community. Like with mine there is clearly a political paradigm that favor some countries. You can discuss this paradigm as it relates to both countries in the international community as well as why it is so hard to gain that legitimacy.

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