This book analyses the normative framework underlying the statebuilding activities of the international administrations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and East Timor. It argues that a particular understanding of sovereignty has shaped the efforts of these international administrations, and examines the influence of this conception on three aspects of statebuilding: institution-building, the behaviour of international institutions towards local actors, and the timing and nature of the transition from international to local authority — the exit strategies of international administrations. Th ... More

This book analyses the normative framework underlying the statebuilding activities of the international administrations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and East Timor. It argues that a particular understanding of sovereignty has shaped the efforts of these international administrations, and examines the influence of this conception on three aspects of statebuilding: institution-building, the behaviour of international institutions towards local actors, and the timing and nature of the transition from international to local authority — the exit strategies of international administrations. The book argues that international administrations hold a conception of ‘sovereignty as responsibility’: states have to fulfil a set of responsibilities towards their population, in particular administrative effectiveness, the protection of human rights, democracy, the rule of law, and maintaining a free market economy. These responsibilities constitute a ‘standard of civilisation’, which legitimises sovereign authority, and failure to fulfil this standard can lead to international intervention and the denial of sovereign rights. The book shows how this ‘standard of civilisation’ is used by international administrations both to justify the denial of self-governance, and to serve as a blueprint for their institution-building activities. The restructuring of political and administrative practices to help post-conflict territories to meet this standard creates a sovereignty paradox: international administrations compromise one element of sovereignty — the right to self-government — in order to implement domestic reforms to legitimize the authority of local political institutions, and thus strengthen their sovereignty. In the light of the governance and development record of the three international administrations, the book assesses the promises and the pathologies of statebuilding, and develops recommendations to improve their performance.