War and the State in Africa

Jeffrey Herbst, (MIT Press, 1990). International Security, Spring, 1990, Vol. 14, No. 4 (Spring, 1990), pp. 117-139 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/2538753)

War builds states (Tilly 1975, Huntington 1968)
Forces more efficient extraction of resources from people, i.e. mechanisms of taxation
(on re-read) ratchet effect: taxation increases for war but doesn't go back down after
Creates national identity: people rally around their own survival, belief that they would be better off under current regime than threatening one
(on re-read) existence of country becomes synonymous with its military force/gov leadership
European countries, Taiwan, South Korea, Israel, and others formed by pressure of external threats
Post-colonial African states: no change of borders since 1950s, no interstate conquest wars to drive state formation
Countries face internal threats of secession so most want to keep fixed boundaries in place, including big states like Nigeria who would otherwise threaten conquest
In peace, it's very hard to reform taxation systems or create national identity
(on re-read) unable to tax citizens, African states tax foreign imports, which leads to corruption and disruption of market forces, preventing the steady economic growth needed for a state to build basic infrastructure
(on re-read) purely economic factors don't explain the inability of African states to tax effectively: examination of historical states reveals that political organization (willingness of populous to pay) is bigger determiner than economic conditions (poverty, peasantry)
(on re-read) lack of "natural" national identity also doesn't explain inability to create nationalism: successful nations are created, i.e. people are convinced that they belong under common identity, not simply found
War shouldn't be advocated for, nor would it create the same effects as in Europe, but it might come anyways
There's an increasing power differential between African countries
Eventually some gov might get tired of being stuck in stagnation and seek conquest either to enrich the country through another's assets, or as a state-building mechanism
Some African states might simply not be viable, i.e. never be able to economically grow in current form -- "permanently weak" states should not be neglected

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War and the State in Africa

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Poli 5: Intro to Comparative Politics