Questão 8 - IDOMED UNIJIPA 2024/2

The Proliferation of the Parallel State

van Briscoe, 2008

 

(1^st §) The parallel state is an institutional arrangement within which organised groups with criminal capacities or expertise in the use of brutal force use their links with the formal state to protect and expand their activities. It perpetuates state weakness while maintaining the appearance of legitimacy.

(2^nd §) Parallel states originate in bloated military and intelligence sectors operating in weak state environments at a time of increasing democratic openness and economic opportunity or heightened international security concern. Conditions that contribute to the development of parallel states include historically weak states marked by the existence of one strong institution (usually the military); increased commercial opportunities through globalisation; dominant public issues that legitimate ‘expert’ institutional intervention over democratic practice; and foreign powers acting according to an overarching geo-strategic logic.

(3^rd §) In dealing with parallel states, the international community should seek to undermine the continuity and feasibility of transactions between political leaders and leaders of clandestine organisations. International policing of criminal networks, multilateral judicial and legal interventions, regional support mechanisms, and civil society strengthening could help reduce the dependence of political leaders on clandestine organisations.

(4^th §) While the potential influence of external actors over entrenched interests is questionable, the money, arms, and international blind eye of a narrow security-based policy are sure to deepen the problems posed by parallel states.

Adapted from: https://gsdrc.org/document-library/the-proliferation-of-the-parallel-state/. Accessed 5 February 2024.

According to paragraph 1, parallel states: