The Enigma of Institutionalised Aid Securitisation in Somalia

Abstract

In a post 9/11 security climate, aid securitisation became an instrumental tool in shaping security paradigms in fragile states of geostrategic importance. This dissertation critically engages with the theoretical and practical implications of aid securitisation. This thesis examines the paradox inherent in institutionalised aid securitisation to establish the extent to which institutionalised aid securitisation facilitates or contributes to insecurity and instability in Somalia and the factors that exacerbate this dynamic.

It positions aid securitisation as an enduring feature of the security, aid and development landscape in fragile states. The thesis uses securitisation theory as a lens to understand the complex interplay of the aid-security nexus. It challenges the perception of aid securitisation as a normative response to fragile states experiencing protracted conflict. The study does this to illustrate the impact of the promise, practice and effects of institutionalised aid securitisation across three sites of encounter: the centre and periphery dynamics, the political and security marketplaces, and the influence and role of the diaspora.

Using twenty-six in-depth qualitative interviews conducted in Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti, it interrogates the ways that institutionalised aid securitisation is encountered across the three sites. The research examines the dynamics between the normative, political and security realms and institutionalised aid securitisation by exploring the dialectic relationship between the securitising actors and securitised subjects across the three sites. The findings challenge the implications of a normative response on securitised subjects and how the negotiate and exercise their agency in this dynamic.