This book examines post-secession and post-transition state building in Somaliland, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan. It explores two intimately linked, yet analytically distinct themes: state building and national identity reconstruction following secession and collapse. In Somaliland and South Sudan, rearranging the state requires a complete metamorphosis of state institutions so that they respond to the needs and interests of the people. In Sudan and Somalia, the reconfiguration of the remains of the state must address a new reality and demands on the ground. All four cases examined, although highly variable, involve conflict. Conflict defines the scope, depth and momentum of the state building and state reconstruction process. It also determines the contours and parameters of the projects to reconstitute national identity and rebuild a nation. Addressing the contested identity formation and its direct relation to state building would therefore go a long way in mitigating conflicts and state crisis.

Redie Bereketeab is Associate Professor of Sociology and currently working as Senior Researcher at the Nordic Africa Institute, Sweden. He has authored several books, book chapters, and journal articles. His latest publication include Self-Determination and Secession in Africa: The Post-Colonial State (ed., 2015) and Revising the Eritrean National Liberation Movement, 1961-91 (2016).

1. Introduction: The Challenges of State Building, State Reconstruction and National Identity Reconfiguration.- 2. Reconstructing the National State of Somalia: The Role of Traditional Institutions and Authorities.- 3. Negotiating with Somalia: Is it an Option or a Foreign Imposition?.- 4. Reconciliation and Peace-Making: The Somali National Movement and the Somaliland Experience of State Building.- 5. State Building in the Republic of South Sudan: Challenges and Aspirations.- 6. Borderlands and the Restructuring of Sudan following South Sudan's Secession.- 7. Somalia: Reconfiguration of National Identity.- 8. Crisis of Identity in a Hybrid Polity: The Case of Somaliland.- 9. Identity formation in post-secession Sudan.- 10. National Identity Reconfiguration in South Sudan: Strength and Weaknesses.- 11. The Dynamics of National Identity-Building in South Sudan.- 12. Conclusion: From Deconstruction to Reconstruction.