I hear a lot of people blaming different clans for the problems in Somalia and maybe that's true but it's besides the point.
If there are enough people (particularly in the South) that are not interested in a state or actively oppose it for their own interests then a state can't be built. If you add powerful non-state actors like the extremists the situation is basically mission impossible.
In the old days, if powerful countries saw a place like Somalia they would just attack it until the problems stopped (piracy and extremism) or there was no one left. They might even occupy the place. If the battle was too hard sometimes they just put up a wall (Great wall of China, Hadrians wall)
The idea of coming into a country and building a state is actually a crazy idea. If the people don't want it there's no chance in hell it's going to work.
So why do they bother? They do it for the system. The international order. Having failed states around is bad for the whole system. Like a derelict house in the neighbourhood it brings down all of the house values, so the powerful countries go in there and to fix it up. Not only they do they try to fix it up, they have to believe it can be fixed. So at some point they stop working on it and it collapses. It's kind of irrational behaviour.
Anyway just some random thoughts.
If there are enough people (particularly in the South) that are not interested in a state or actively oppose it for their own interests then a state can't be built. If you add powerful non-state actors like the extremists the situation is basically mission impossible.
In the old days, if powerful countries saw a place like Somalia they would just attack it until the problems stopped (piracy and extremism) or there was no one left. They might even occupy the place. If the battle was too hard sometimes they just put up a wall (Great wall of China, Hadrians wall)
The idea of coming into a country and building a state is actually a crazy idea. If the people don't want it there's no chance in hell it's going to work.
So why do they bother? They do it for the system. The international order. Having failed states around is bad for the whole system. Like a derelict house in the neighbourhood it brings down all of the house values, so the powerful countries go in there and to fix it up. Not only they do they try to fix it up, they have to believe it can be fixed. So at some point they stop working on it and it collapses. It's kind of irrational behaviour.
Anyway just some random thoughts.