Working Paper No.55
Security Communities and the Problem of Domestic Instability
Laurie Nathan
Crisis States Research Centre
November 2004
The literature on security communities neglects the question of internal
instability. Using examples drawn mainly from the Great Lakes region of Africa
and the region covered by the Southern African Development Community, I argue
that domestic stability, defined as the absence of large-scale violence within a
country, is a necessary condition of a security community. I seek to demonstrate
that large-scale domestic violence prevents the attainment of these communities
by rendering people and states insecure, generating uncertainty, tension and
mistrust among states, and creating the risk of cross-border violence. In
contrast to other writers, I conclude that the benchmark of a security community
– dependable expectations of peaceful change – should apply not only between
states but also within them.
Other crisis states papers by Laurie Nathan:
Working Paper No.50 (July 2004)
The Absence of Common Values and Failure of Common Security in Southern Africa, 1992-2003
(Laurie Nathan)
Discussion Paper No.5 (June 2004)
Accounting for South Africa's Successful Transition to Democracy
(Laurie Nathan)
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