11 Hybrid sources of legitimacy Peacebuilding and statebuilding in Somaliland Mary Hope Schwoebel Introduction Chapters in this work by Christopher Mitchell and Jacqueline Wilson discuss the various ways in which the concept of legitimacy has been applied to diverse political entities, ranging from the state itself and incumbent governments to non- state armed groups challenging the existence of the state or the legitimacy of the incumbent government. They also include local communities striving to survive and even build local peace, governance, and justice in an environment of civil strife and widespread violence. The legitimacy of – often rival – actors is particu- larly contested when no recognizable state exists and a struggle develops between entities claiming the legitimate right both to construct a state for and maintain the peace within a stateless society. The key questions in such circumstances are: Who has a legitimate right to establish a state? And on what is that right based? This chapter describes the peacebuilding and state-building processes in Somal- iland since its formation in 1991 to 2015. It focuses on how Somaliland’s founders married indigenous, Islamic, and Western peacebuilding and state-building pro- cesses and structures. They aimed to balance and blend differing conceptions of legitimacy among different segments of its population – a Westernized, urbanized center and a traditional, rural periphery. It then discusses the ongoing challenges facing Somaliland’s government to maintain its legitimacy internally, while keeping one eye focused externally. As internal actors in Somaliland’s center have moved the government closer to a Western-style, democratic system, its internal and external legitimacy have been undermined by secessionist and/or irredentist movements. These movements, which exist on Somaliland’s peripheries, are based on different conceptions of and bases for territorial and internal legitimacy. Furthermore, since these move- ments support membership in the federal Somali state, they have an equal chance of gaining some degree of external legitimacy. Although Somaliland has not received full international recognition, its gov- ernment has enjoyed a degree of internal legitimacy and some external legitimacy, which has not been enjoyed either by the series of “transitional” governments leading up to the Somali Federal Government (SFG), or the current SFG itself. This chapter, therefore, examines the implications of the current lack, and possible Local Peacebuilding and Legitimacy : Interactions Between National and Local Levels, edited by Landon E. Hancock, and Christopher Mitchell, Routledge, 2018. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/novasoutheastern/detail.action?docID=5295087. Created from novasoutheastern on 2018-10-23 17:27:48. Copyright © 2018. Routledge. All rights reserved.