BY WOSSENSEGED ASSEFA
In a closer look of the theories about the origin and the function of a state, we can say that almost all have a shared common concept within them. That being, maintenance of peace, order and security within the domestic territory and also protect its people from all sort of foreign aggression stand as the very elemental duty of any given state, the theories describe. That is why experts of the field agree on the point that the provision of domestic and regional peace and security is among the major qualifying variables in measuring states’ strength.
The needs of human beings are broadly categorized into three streams: security, economic and relationship needs. Security needs are mainly dealt with political means through the state’s political institutions; economic needs are to be met through the combined effort of the public and the private sector; and the study of sociology and theology detail the particulars of social/anthropic and spiritual relationships mankind has. States, to provide the security need for the populace, have to form and strengthen various institutions such as defense, intelligence, police et al. The formation and strengthening of these institutions require knowledge, experience and of course financial resources. Taxes are therefore the major instruments states apply to ensure their financial need.
States, particularly of least developing countries, consume a significant portion of the country’s GDP, sometimes more than half. The higher the state’s intervention in the economy and social institutions, the larger the share of the GDP reserved for the state and its machineries. Since the very existence, the raison d’être, of the state exists to deliver political goods and institutions such as security, education, health, employment, environmental protection, infrastructures et cetera, the market and the society expect the state to carry out its elemental duty in return for the GDP share it reserves for itself in the name of taxation. Among these political goods the state is expected to deliver, maintenance of peace and security holds the first rank of order. Regulation of institutions and adjudication of conflicts; rule of law, securing property rights, enforcing contracts; encouraging political participation; and delivering social service, infrastructures, and regulation of the economy are of course of a paramount importance, but can’t be paralleled with the maintenance of peace and security.
Any state/government that compromises the issue of security is destined for failure. Max Weber’s understanding of the state is decisive in elaborating the very correlation between state and its basic function and machineries of peacekeeping. According to Weber, ‘a state is a human community that claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory’ even when ‘the right to used physical force is ascribed to other institutions or to individuals only to the extent to which the state permits it’. If any other institution or an individual manages to run a physical force without the official permission of the legitimate state, then it is referred as ‘the state within a state’.
Citizens depend on a state (be it regional or federal) to secure their properties and free them from fear and uncertainty. Unable to establish an atmosphere of security nationwide, and often struggling to project power and official authority, the faltering state’s failure becomes obvious. When state machineries can no longer fulfil their functions in a way that builds and strengthens public confidence particularly in ensuring the physical safety of its populace, the repercussions are so grim to deal with. The World Bank (2003) explains how severe the domestic effects of state failure and collapse are. “When the state cannot or will not fulfil its core functions, citizens suffer. State collapse is especially devastating, as the total disintegration of public authority usually leads to violent contestation over who will control the state and obtain the benefits that international recognition brings. Citizens flee in massive refugee flows. The effects of civil war persist for years after the war ends; these include increased mortality rates, inflated military spending, capital flight, loss of social capital, and low economic growth”.
In addition to the upheaval within the domestic territory, there lies the threat of external intervention and massive flow of refugees and a contagious instability of the region. If, on the other hand, the international community reaches on a point that the Ethiopian state is not capable of performing its basic duties of maintaining security, they won’t hesitate to relocate the various international organizations in the Capital Addis and reinstitute them somewhere else. This would cost Ethiopia its historical significance in the African and world politics and also economic benefits that it reaps from international and regional conferences.
When such criminal violence arises anytime and anywhere and lawlessness becomes more apparent, a populace would realize that the state has abandoned it to its own devices and to the forces of nature. This would ultimately lead to the hypothetical turbulent situation that the 17th C political philosopher Thomas Hobbes termed as “State of Nature”. Hobbes argued that individuals living without a state and a rule of law find themselves in a situation of ‘war of all against all’ in which life is ‘solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short’. Hobbes recommends a rule of absolute monarchy as means of precluding such horrific situation. Well, it might not be possible to form such state in the 21st C. However, the need for a strong government and the rule of law is what the populace is crying for in the contemporary Ethiopia. And this is the very assignment the Prosperity Party led government needs to carry out.
The kind of strong states Ethiopians yearn for is the one that unquestionably control our territories and deliver a full range and a high quality of political goods for all of us. The populace and the investors need the central government to offer high levels of security from any political and criminal violence, ensure political freedom and civil liberties, and create environments conducive to the growth of economic opportunity. The Ethiopia we need is where the rule of law prevails and peace and security are maintained. In a nation where almost all the people thought to be are “believers”, those in power need to consult the Book of the Romans (Chapter 13) from the Holy Scriptures which clearly states the role of the state; “For he (the ruler) is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil”.
In conclusion, experts agree that there is a hierarchy of political goods. However, none is as critical as the supply of security. As societies become more complex and as the groups that constitute them become larger and less homogeneous, the state must assume additional responsibilities if it wishes to promote fully the welfare of the individuals that comprise it. Individuals alone, almost exclusively in special or particular circumstances, can attempt to secure themselves. Or groups of individuals can band together to organize and purchase goods or services that maximize their sense of security. Traditionally, and usually, however, individuals and groups cannot easily or effectively substitute private security for the full spectrum of public security. The state’s prime function is then to provide that political good of security.
Political scientists agree on the notion that state failure is largely man made, not accidental. Institutional fragilities and structural flaws contribute to failure, but those deficiencies usually hark back to decisions or actions of the agents (decision makers). In this regard, the government needs to renew and reorganize our defense institutions. A quite significant portion of the population especially in Amhara region are not clear about the case in Woldiya. They do accuse the military for being silent having all those military armaments while the youth of the city has been sacrificing its precious life to save its motherland from the invasion of the TPLF forces. The government might have taken this measure of silence as a military strategy; whatsoever it might be, unless the government came up with a sound justification for its inaction, the ‘Ethiopian Defense’ as an institution loses its credibility. And this would lead to a worse outcome, that is, a fragility of our defense force’s reputed position in the hearts of the Ethiopian populace.
In a nutshell, the state has to measure its strength by its ability and willingness to provide the fundamental political goods associated with statehood: physical security, legitimate political institutions, economic management, and social welfare. Our government is currently under an immense pressure both from internal and external forces and the main sources of its strength in tackling the threats of the nation and nationalities of Ethiopia. Therefore, remaining
transparent to the public would not only help in getting human and financial support but also proves its legitimacy. And that makes the state strong in facing the threats and maintaining the peace and security of its people.
Peace Be Upon Our Land!
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD AUGUST 25/ 2021
