Jason E. Strakes

This study examines the evolution of state systems in seven developing world regions, including Central and South America, North and Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and Central and Southeast Asia, from the date of political independence to the early twenty-first century. The theoretical framework incorporates two propositions: that the central problem of Third World state formation has been the relative absence of the consolidation of geographic boundaries in response to external military threats, and the limited ability of governments to project their authority over sparsely inhabited territories. Additional hypotheses address the role of population and topography in public administration; the impact of ethno linguistic divisions on governance; the dynamics of domestic protests and violence; the political effect of external challenges to territorial integrity; and the relationship between boundaries and interstate conflict. These are applied at three levels of analysis. The domestic-level model introduces a measure of internal power projection capability that indicates the ability of political elites to administer taxation across territorial space. A second international-level model estimates the impact of these domestic structural variables on the extent of state participation in militarized interstate disputes. The final level addresses possible interdependence between internal and external variables. The outcomes suggest that while several predictors have had a significant impact on trends of consolidation and conflict across systems, there is considerable variation in effects between regions, calling into question common generalizations about the intrinsic qualities of developing states.