The “frozen conflict” that turned hot: conflicting state building attempts in South Ossetia

The recent conflict in South Ossetia reminded everyone that things are far from settled in the South Caucasus region. Generally dubbed “frozen conflicts”, the separatist conflicts in the Caucasus have been considered by many authors as political and military stalemates. This approach, however, tended to brush aside sociological dynamics at work inside what could have been more accurately described as “zones of conflict”. The main argument is to demonstrate how the oppositional logic of the autocratic de facto government in power and outside interference in the region, from Russia and Georgia mainly, are affecting the state building process of South Ossetia by marginalizing the local population and its needs. In fact, no real state building will take place in South Ossetia, either as a component of a Georgian Federation or as an entity in the Russian Federation, without addressing more carefully the needs of the local population. This statement is more topical than ever, in the context of the ongoing struggle between Georgia and Russia for the future of the region

The "empty shell" approach: the setup process of international administrations in Timor-Leste and Kosovo, its consequences and lessons

State-building under the aegis of international administrations has faced various hurdles and obstacles in Kosovo and Timor-Leste — failures that came to full light in March 2004 in Kosovo and in May 2006 in Timor-Leste. However, the international conception buttressing the set up of international administrations — I dub it the "empty-shell" approach — is still present in certain policy circles. This article aims to analyze this international conception by clarifying how the UN came to impose its authority over the two territories in a very similar process. While the literature on each state-building experiment is vast and com- pelling, few authors have attempted to contrast the two case studies, especially regarding the mental conception informing the governance process of these territories since 1999. This article links the empty-shell approach with the delegitimization process that came to be experi- enced by the UN in both cases. The article describes the international policies put in place by the UN to expand its control over the two terri- tories, a mix of co-option of local elites and the marginalization of the local population. Finally, the article reveals some possible solutions in order to avoid the more blatant difficulties pertaining to state-building conducted from the outside-in

Coerced transitions in Timor-Leste and Kosovo

Statebuilding under the aegis of international administrations has faced various hurdles and obstacles in Kosovo and Timor-Leste. One of these hurdles is related to the specific mandate of these missions, which created a specific conflict of objectives for the international presence – between democracy promotion and institution-building. The piece analyzes specifically the strategies of international and local elites in this context. After trying to prioritize institution-building while paying lip service to democratization imperatives, international officials had to readjust their strategy following contestation and resistance from local partners. Facing practical consequences of the conflict of objectives, international officials then proceeded to prioritize democracy promotion imperatives and reduced their institution-building role. The paper concludes on the implications of these experiences for the debate concerning democracy promotion and highlights the possibilities of the “participatory intervention” framework put forth by Chopra and Hohe

Peacebuilding: A broad review of approaches, policies and practices

This background paper has been produced for a workshop on “Civil society views on next generation peacebuilding and conflict prevention policy and programming issues and responses”, convened by Peacebuild in Ottawa on March 14, 2011 with the support of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade

Multiethnicité ou ghettoïsation ? Statebuilding international et partition du Kosovo à l’aune du projet controversé de Mur à Mitrovica

More than twenty years after the fall of the Berlin wall, a number of cities live with walls or fences which impose spatial and political divisions. This paper intends to focus on the partition of the city of Mitrovica (Kosovo), which dates back to the NATO intervention in 1999. The partition of this city is emblematic of the division of Kosovo in two distinct communities. The project of building a wall within Mitrovica, proposed by the NATO in 2001 encompasses the paradox of the entire intervention in Kosovo: the international goal of promoting a multiethnic Kosovo came to be seen as a policy of ghettoization of the various communities, contributing to the identity crisis that NATO originally wanted to subdue

Coerced transitions in Timor-Leste and Kosovo: managing competing objectives of institution-building and local empowerment

Institution-building under the aegis of international administrations has faced various hurdles and obstacles in Kosovo and Timor-Leste. One of these hurdles is related to the specific mandate of these missions, which created a specific conflict of objectives for the international presence – between institution-building and empowerment. The piece analyzes specifically the strategies of international and local elites in this context. After trying to prioritize institution-building while paying lip service to empowerment imperatives, international officials had to readjust their strategy following contestation and resistance from local partners. Facing practical consequences of the conflict of objectives, international officials then proceeded to prioritize democracy promotion imperatives and reduced their institution-building role. The paper concludes on the implications of these experiences for the debate concerning democracy promotion and highlights the possibilities of the “participatory intervention” framework put forth by Chopra and Hohe

Que rôle pour l’OSCE dans le state-building européen?

Malgré le fait qu’elle puise ses origines dans la bipolarité, l’OSCE a développé, dès sa création, des caractéristiques normatives tout à fait uniques qui lui permettront de développer une approche particulière des nouveaux défis posés par l’effondrement de l’État au sortir de la guerre froide. Depuis le début du processus d’Helsinki en 1973, la CSCE, devenue maintenant l’OSCE, a adopté une vision large et étendue du phénomène sécuritaire. La protection et la promotion des droits fondamentaux ainsi que les aspects économiques et environnementaux de la sécurité ont été considérés par l’organisation comme tout aussi importants pour le maintien de la paix et de la stabilité que les aspects politico-militaires de la sécurité. Cet article visera à comprendre l’évolution de l’OSCE de la guerre froide à nos jours et le rôle que cette organisation peut jouer dans la sortie des conflits armés contemporains. Nous viserons à faire ressortir son potentiel en tant qu’acteur particulier de l’architecture de la sécurité européenne, ainsi que les limites inhérentes liées à sa structure. Cet article se fondera sur un travail de terrain effectué au Kosovo (2007) et en Géorgie (2006-2007), ainsi qu’au siège de l’OSCE à Vienne (2006) et au siège du Haut Commissaire de l’OSCE pour les minorités nationales à La Haie (2006)

The bifurcation of the two worlds: assessing the gap between internationals and locals in state-building processes

More and more studies highlight the limits of state-building conducted ‘from the top-down’. Building on the literature on the subject and using a Rosenauian concept in a novel way, this article posits that international interventions tend to create a ‘bifurcation of the two worlds’. Departing from a study of Kosovo and Timor-Leste, the article posits that the massive arrival of staff involved in international governance will create a social gap between the international and the local ‘worlds’, which will in turn fuel local resistance as this gap will become target of narratives of resistance by certain local actors. This bifurcation is exemplified by the ‘white car syndrome’, a concept representing the horde of white UN vehicles accompanying major interventions and developed in this contribution. Thus, this article attempts to shed a new light on the legitimacy crises that Kosovo and Timor-Leste experienced at the beginning of the current century, while increasing the linkages between development studies and peace studies