STL 754 – Analysis of Somalia Fragility and State Building IntroductionThe state of Somalia has a truly unique position and history as a modern state on the African continent. Somalia has experienced several scenarios that have had a great impact on its situation, such as civil war, state fragility and, ultimately, state failure. As a state that has suffered various challenges and problems regarding its stability and development, it has been able to re-establish itself and re-introduce itself into the African community. With the restoration of governance systems and reintroduction of state functions in this failed state, there are various factors that greatly influence the realization of state building in Somalia. These challenges, as will be discussed later, greatly impact the overall fragility of this state and its newly created government and how this may affect its governance and state-building processes. Fragility in this case refers to the weakness and difficulties that the state may face regarding its stability and more specifically state-building in Somalia. State fragility is basically defined as a state that is unable to provide and fulfill its basic services and complete basic functions. A fragile state occurs “where the government is unable or unwilling to provide basic functions to the majority of its population, including the poor” (Zoellick 2008: 69). This means that basic services such as education, healthcare and law enforcement can be completed. There is therefore a huge gap in the functionality and capacity of the state and its ability to govern its territory. There is weakness in three main areas that greatly affect the fragility of any country, and in this case Somalia, nam...... middle of paper ......ty, transparency, teamwork and fighting corruption. These positions were all filled with new faces in Somalia's political scene and were seen as a positive step by Parliament to move away from the conflict-plagued and weak leadership of the past. (Hammond 2013: 186). So this move towards creating some form of functioning government has developed and state control is slowly re-emerging. However, this system is still in its initial phase and therefore presents great fragility. Due to its difficult and unstable past, these structures will face various challenges in attempting to re-establish a strong and stable government and state overall. The challenges of fragility As a state that has struggled with poor leadership and almost non-existent governance for the past two decades there are many challenges it will face to recreate itself.