42 Chapter Three
India, Bangladesh, Burma, Indonesia, Australia, Madagascar, Comoros,
Maldives, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, and Mauritius. Due to space limitations
we will deal only with the overall trends and tendencies in the region
rather than describing each and every case.^11
State-strength criteria
In the first part of our analysis we will deal with the criteria defining the
state-strength axis. Concerning the breaches of sovereignty there is a
problem of the massive inability of states to provide law and security
inside their territories, as is the case of Pakistan, Yemen, or Somalia
(where the mere existence of state structure is doubtful). The inability to
create a unified law-code is in itself a huge problem highlighting some
major dysfunctions of the state. This is even more the case when dealing
with security which is an essential and primary function of a state. The
second issue connected to the sovereignty issue is the presence of
important and widespread foreign interventions either from states outside
the region (mainly the USA and PRC which lead the major geopolitical
power competition over the region), countries from inside the region (e.g.
India trying to compete with the two major outside powers, Kenya in
Somalia, RSA indirectly in southern Africa), or from the side of non-state
actors (e.g. al Qaeda in Yemen, Afghan Taliban in Pakistan, al-Shabaab in
Kenya). The presence of the US Navy in the region has been a long-lasting
phenomenon for many decades. On the other hand, the Chinese presence is
more of a contemporary issue. China is trying to build its String of Pearls
system of ports and bases, with which it could control the sea lines of
communication through which most of its trade with Europe flows.
Additionally, these lines are important for oil deliveries from the Persian
Gulf to Eastern Asia. When dealing with local actors, we can see
geographically limited attempts by local powers, with only India showing
some indication of trying to compete with the outside powers. The foreign
non-state actors hold such strength in some areas that they effectively
threaten to destroy some of the weak states in the region. They, however,
usually combine their power with the local actors – al Qaeda in Yemen
(^11) The following analysis is based on (Bennett Jones, 2009; Salik, 2009; Siddiqa,
2011; Synnot, 2009) for Pakistan, (Bruton, 2010; Menkhaus, 2007; Murphy, 2011)
for Somalia, (Christopher, 2005; Ulriksen, 2012) for South Africa, (Coleman,
2013) for Mozambique, (CountryWatch, Inc., 2012) for Tanzania, (Kuriyakose,
2010) for India, (Phillips, 2011; Worth, 2009) for Yemen, (Worrall, 2012) for
Oman, (Fund For Peace, 2013; CIA, 2013; Kaplan, 2010) for the whole region, and
the knowledge of the author of this paper.