Journal of Social and Political
Sciences
ISSN 2615-3718 (Online)
ISSN 2621-5675 (Print)
Published: 04 May 2022
Internal Capability of the State Matters in International Relations: Evidence from East African Tri-national Border Zone
Olang Sana, Chweya Ludeki
University of Nairobi (Kenya), Kenya School of Government (Kenya)
Download Full-Text Pdf
10.31014/aior.1991.05.02.349
Pages: 84-95
Keywords: External Capability, Internal Capacity Nation State, Security
Abstract
The realist theoretical perspective suggests that the ‘inside’ of the state is not a critical variable since, unlike the anarchical international system, the domestic arena entails a sovereign entity in form of a government which is able to exercise effective authority, secure compliance from citizens, and guarantee internal order. However, studies continue to expose a litany of states especially in the developing world, whose weaknesses can be attributed to domestic antagonism. Consequently, the states face external security threats due to such internal incapacity gaps. This article draws data from Kenya, Uganda and South Sudan to demonstrate that internal capacity of states matter in international relations. The study establishes that the three states have been unable to establish effective authority over the pastoral Turkana, Karamojong and Toposa who reside in their respective territorial jurisdictions and this weakness has a corresponding effect on the ability of the state to promote its national interest, which is mainly security. The article therefore, argues that while realism still remains a compelling theoretical perspective for conceptualizing security in the international system, it could be strengthened by paying attention to the domestic variable.
References
Anderson, Benedict (1991) Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, 2nd edn, London: Verso
Ashley, R. K. (1983). Three modes of economism. International Studies Quarterly, 27(4), 463-496.
Ayoob, M. (1995). The third world security predicament: State making, regional conflict, and the international system (pp. 41-42). L. Rienner Publishers.
Buzan, B. (1995). Security, the State, the" New World Order" and Beyond. On security, 187-211.
Buzan, B., Wæver, O., Wæver, O., & De Wilde, J. (1998). Security: A new framework for analysis. Lynne Rienner Publishers.
Booth, K. (Ed.). (2005). Critical security studies and world politics (pp. 259-278). London: Lynne Rienner Publishers.
Carr, E. H. (1939). The Twenty Years’ Crisis, 1919–1939: Reissued with New Introduction.
Chabal, P. (1999). Africa works: Disorder as political instrument. James Currey Limited.
Chaudoin, S., Milner, H. V., & Pang, X. (2015). International systems and domestic politics: Linking complex interactions with empirical models in international relations. International Organization, 69(2), 275-309.
Croxton, D. (1999). The Peace of Westphalia of 1648 and the Origins of Sovereignty. The international history review, 21(3), 569-591
Hassan, D. (2006). The rise of the territorial state and the treaty of Westphalia. Yearbook of New Zealand Jurisprudence, 9, 62-70.
Hobbes Thomas, Leviathan, London, William Benton, 1952.
Hobsbawm, E. J. (1992). Nations and nationalism since 1780: Programme, myth, reality. Cambridge university press.
Hobson, J. M. (2000). The state and international relations. Cambridge University Press.
Hoffmann, S. (1965). The State of War: the Essays on the Theory and Practice of International Politics. Frederick A PraegerInc
Katzenstein, P. J. (1976). International relations and domestic structures: Foreign economic policies of advanced industrial states. International Organization, 30(1), 1-45.
Keyman, F. (1997) Globalization, the State, Identity/ Differences: Towards a Critical Social Theory of International Relations, New Jersey: Humanities Press.
Lamphear, J. (1976). The Traditional History of the Jie of Uganda.
Levy, J. S. (1988). Domestic politics and war. The Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 18(4), 653-673.
Moravcsik, A. (1996). From the Outside in: International Relations and the “Obsolescence” of Comparative Politics. APSA-CP Newsletter, 7(2), 9.
Morgenthau Hans J. (1973). Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace
Okumu, W. (2010). Resources and border disputes in Eastern Africa. Journal of Eastern African Studies, 4(2), 279-297.
Rose, G. (1998). Neoclassical realism and theories of foreign policy. World politics, 51(1), 144-172.
Rotberg, R. I. (2002). The new nature of nation‐state failure. Washington quarterly, 25(3), 83-96.
Rotberg, R. I. (Ed.). (2004). State failure and state weakness in a time of terror. Brookings Institution Press.
Said, N. W. (2013). Failed or Fragile States in International Power Politics.
Sheehan, M. J. (2005). International security: an analytical survey . Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner.
Stirk, P. (2015). Introduction: The Concept of the State in International Relations.
Valensi, C. (2015). Non-state actors: A theoretical limitation in a changing Middle East. Military and Strategic Affairs, 7(1), 59-78.
Waltz, K. N. (1959). Man, State and War: A Theoretical Analysis. Columbia University Press.
Waltz, K. N. (2010). Theory of international politics. Waveland Press.
Wimmer, A., & Feinstein, Y. (2010). The Rise of the Nation-State across the World, 1816 to 2001. American Sociological Review, 75(5), 764-790.
Zakaria, F. (1992). Realism and domestic politics: a review essay. International Security, 17(1), 177-198.
Kenya Immigration Act 1967
Constitution of Kenya, 2010
Uganda Passports Act, 1982
Constitution of Uganda, 1995
South Sudan Nationality Act, 2011
Kenya Animal Disease Act, 1972
South Sudan Passports and Immigration Act, 2011