Persisting challenges of international relations analysis: Big men politics, state fragmentation, and local power in the horn of Africa

Abstract

The Horn of Africa comprises some of the most fragile and fragmented states in the world. This poses a persistent challenge to the dominant realist international relations discourse that is used to explain the dynamics of foreign relations in the Horn of Africa mainly from the perspective of extra-African powers. Discussing Big Man politics and state fragmentation as key characteristics of political dynamics in the Horn of Africa, the article points out the epistemological inapplicability of the mainstream realist international relations discourse to understand power in African politics and international affairs. The paper asserts that the role and dynamics of domestic power contestation among Big Men and how it relates to state fragmentation should be understood to improve international relations discourse and its ability to make sense of politics in the Horn of Africa. Explaining the contrasting realities of Big Man political competition in Djibouti and Eritrea, and Ethiopia and Somalia, the article emphasizes the need to improve our understanding of the local power of the Big Men and their international connections in the context of fragmentation of state power as a way to improve the analysis of politics and international relations in the Horn of Africa.