Zeitschrift: Internationale Politik und Gesellschaft

From: Snapshot-Content-Location: https://www.fes.de/ipg/arc_07_d/02_07_d/r_2_07_2.htm Subject: Zeitschrift: Internationale Politik und Gesellschaft Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2026 13:54:55 +0100 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; type="text/html"; boundary="----MultipartBoundary--PrHKoof6Cwm6G3eHWKUQUotz8RbRJbDFO0UpnysB61----" ------MultipartBoundary--PrHKoof6Cwm6G3eHWKUQUotz8RbRJbDFO0UpnysB61---- Content-Type: text/html Content-ID: Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: https://www.fes.de/ipg/arc_07_d/02_07_d/r_2_07_2.htm Zeitschrift: Internationale Politik und Gesellschaft =20 =20 =20 =20 = =20 = =20 <= td class=3D"text"> =20 <= td class=3D"text" height=3D"25">

MICHAEL DAUDERST=C4= DT/ARNE SCHILDBERG (eds.):
Dead Ends of Transition: Rentier Economies and Protectorates

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Heft 2/2007

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Frankfurt 2006 Campus Verlag, 249 pp.

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Dead Ends of Transition is a collection= of papers presented at two international=20 expert seminars on =BBTransforming Authoritarian Rentier Economies = and Protectorates=20 =AB in September and October 2005. The edited volume brings togethe= r a=20 range of scholars and practitioners who analyze the difficulties of= transitions to=20 economic market orders and democracy in various authoritarian state= s and in international=20 protectorates (Bosnia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan). The central aim of= =20 the book is to show that international protectorates are comparable= in nature to=20 authoritarian rentier economies in their reliance on rents =96 in t= he case of rentier=20 economies on rents from natural resources, and in the case of prote= ctorates on=20 rents derived from foreign development aid =96 and that therefore s= imilar lessons=20 on how to bring about transitions to democracy and national reconst= ruction can=20 be learnt by practitioners.

The book is a welcome and timely contribution to the academic discu= ssion in=20 three related areas. The first contribution concerns the comparabil= ity of rentier=20 states and international protectorates. In his opening contribution= Michael Dauderst=E4dt=20 lays out the rentier character of protectorates. He stresses their = external=20 dependence on revenues, the authoritarian nature of their politics,= and their vulnerabilities=20 in times of fiscal crises. The rentier character of protectorates i= s confirmed=20 by Barnett R. Rubin, who also highlights a number of speci= fic characteristics=20 of protectorates, such as the way aid is distributed and the existe= nce of dual=20 sovereignty (local government and international administrators) and= hence two=20 public sectors.

The second contribution relates to debates on the role of natural r= esources in=20 political developments. Here the various contributions engage in a = debate about=20 whether oil wealth should be seen as conducive to political stabili= ty (that is, the=20 longevity of authoritarian rulers) or as contributing to instabilit= y (resource curse).=20 Among those arguing for the longevity of authoritarian rule are Oliver Schlumberger and Benjamin Smith. Supporting the resou= rce curse perspective is Richard=20 Auty, who links prolonged fiscal crises and delay in structura= l reform to the emergence=20 of predatory states (p. 41); Indra de Soysa, who stresses = the indirect effects=20 of resource wealth on corruption, openness of trade, and investment= (p. 50); and=20 Paul Collier and Anke Hoeffler, who claim a direc= t link between resource wealth=20 and the likelihood and duration of civil war. Given that this last = and crude version=20 of the resource curse might be empirically called into question by = the fact that=20 most authoritarian states do not descend into civil war, the need f= or nuanced=20 analyses of individual case studies, and especially of their societ= al and institutional=20 history, becomes clear. The contribution by Ricardo Soares de O= liveira on the states=20 in the Gulf of Guinea, in which he stresses the disadvantageous oil= context (p. 72)=20 and the importance of prolonged fiscal crises =96 an observation th= at resonates with=20 an earlier point made by Richard Auty =96 best exemplifies such his= torically sensitive=20 analysis. Other authors add to this the need to analyze the kind of= institutions=20 created in the period of state-formation and the policies implement= ed thereafter.

The third area, of particular importance to practitioners, is prosp= ects for reform.=20 Here the contributors engage in a debate about whether reform prosp= ects=20 should emanate from the international side =96 stressing demands fo= r transparency,=20 the responsibilities of multinational corporations, and policy tool= s such as oil=20 funds and verification schemes =96 or whether reform efforts are be= tter applied at=20 the domestic level. Generally, the authors see more likelihood of c= hange in domestic=20 reform efforts. These range from reducing broad-based wealth creati= on=20 (Richard Auty), through fostering economic diversification= and creating effective=20 tax administrations (Thorvaldur Gylfason), to increasing p= roductivity outside the=20 oil sector. In view of the political logic of economic reforms in m= any states, the=20 key challenge for transition consists ultimately in breaking vested= political interests=20 and fully implementing structural adjustment programs in order to c= reate=20 better revenue management, transparency, and accountability.

Dead Ends to Transition is a very useful contribution to current de= bates in=20 world politics. A plausible case is made that protectorates share m= any common=20 features with rentier economies. A few critical points may neverthe= less be made:=20 at times it is hard to discern a common thread, and the authors=92 = differing uses of=20 concepts and attempts to explain different things (lack of democrac= y, lack of economic=20 growth, difficult reconstruction efforts in post-conflict situation= s) sometimes=20 make it hard to read. This in itself is not, of course, a valid cri= tique of a collective=20 volume. Nevertheless, it is worth mentioning here in order to highl= ight=20 desiderata for future research and the way ahead, namely how to lin= k the issue of Srentierism and the resource curse to the question of stateh= ood. Rentier economies are naturally part of rentier states and we must hence pose the que= stion of how to=20 view such states. How can they be reformed? How are they to be main= tained?=20 And, in the rare cases of post-conflict peace building, how are the= y to be reconstructed=20 or rebuilt?

One way forward seems to be a focus on the core functions of states= and to measure=20 statehood and governance against fulfillment of the following: inte= rnal and=20 external security, welfare and wealth, and a level of representatio= n. Using such an=20 approach, scholars can analyze functional state failure, civil wars= (and the often=20 accompanying institutional state collapse), lack of reform in renti= er states, and=20 even conceive of policy responses to humanitarian interventions (wh= en to intervene?)=20 and international efforts at post-conflict peacebuilding (what to r= ebuild?).=20 This promising approach seems implicit in the structure of Dead End= s of Transition=20 (the first section on war and peace, the second section on economic= aspects of the=20 resource curse and welfare issues, and the third section on societa= l aspects and=20 representation). What would have been desirable from our point of v= iew, however,=20 is explicit reference to the core functions of states and the divis= ion of the=20 various contributions into the fields of security, welfare, and rep= resentation.

Despite the few critical points raised above, the fact remains that= Dead Ends of=20 Transition is an important publication, and its editors and au= thors should be=20 thanked for their contribution to what is most certainly a subject = of acute interest=20 to the international community.

Rolf S. Schwarz,
Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva

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<< zur=FCck=20 Rezensionen/ =DCbersicht

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=A9 Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung	Redaktion/net edition: Gerda Axer-D=E4mmer \| = 4/2007	=20 Top

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