Semester of Graduation
Spring 2026
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
International Conflict Managment
Department
International Conflict Management
Committee Chair/First Advisor
Volker Franke
Second Advisor
Darina Lepadatu
Third Advisor
Christopher Pallas
Fourth Advisor
Jesse Benjamin
Abstract
This dissertation examines how the Somali diaspora elite have shaped the post-conflict governance. They have returned to Somalia in large numbers, occupying significant positions of power. There is little knowledge about how the Somali diaspora elite reconfigure Somali politics and statebuilding. Using Somalia as a case, I investigate--more generally--how returning elites shape governance capacity-building dynamics and explore the following questions: How have the diaspora power elite shaped the post-conflict governance? How have they viewed their role and impact? What patterns of conflict emerge between local and diaspora elites? What challenges or opportunities face post-conflict governance?
I used Max Weber’s theory of an ideal bureaucracy, regarded as “the universal criteria for evaluating states across the world” (Wang 2022, 4), to evaluate the nature and influence of elites in modern Somali statebuilding. I conducted 33 semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of the diaspora elite to understand the process of state-building. For Weber, the unity and coherence of its governing apparatus characterize a modern state. While there is evidence that diaspora elites contribute to gains in post-conflict governance capacity, this research found that diaspora elites have shaped post-conflict governance into parallel bureaucracies, characterized by organizational and leadership disarticulation and a governance dependent on diaspora professionals. The disarticulation of organizational and leadership structures and the overdependence on the diaspora elite constitute a form of capacity-trapping in post-conflict governance in Somalia. This, in turn, may lead to a governance framework that fails to transition to a localized governance capacity, a counterproductive outcome.