Fragility within Stability: the state, the clan and resilience in Somaliland

Abstract

Even in the context of a relatively flourishing state, fragility can be an enduring feature of a political system, particularly in the case of recently established or unrecognised states. This article examines the nature of statebuilding in a specific context to question the assumption that forms of hybrid governance or pre-existing forms of governance are a necessary evil be tolerated but which needs ultimately to be overcome during statebuilding. It does this by adopting the language of resilience and focusing on the case of Somaliland to highlight the role of clan governance as a mechanism of political resilience and as a means of promoting the flexibility required for statebuilding. Yet, at the same time, the process of statebuilding often involves formalising governance and limiting the role of traditional social-political forms of governance such as clans, ignoring their role in legitimating and stabilizing the political system. However, as this article argues, stability and fragility are inextricably linked; while the clan system has been an important force in stabilizing the state, it has also become a pressure point for the state's latent fragility. By contextualising fragility and stability within the language of resilience, though, this symbiotic relationship can be better analysed.