Description
Since the 1990s, peacebuilding debates have explored the appropriate rules and institutions for governing post-conflict states. With the decline of liberal statebuilding, authoritarian powers have increasingly engaged in post-conflict peacebuilding, employing distinct strategies to expand their influence in the Global South. Contrary to liberal expectations, many states have adopted authoritarian statebuilding models characterised by conflict management, domestic hegemony, strategic manipulation of both Western and non-Western donors, and a high modernist agenda involving large-scale infrastructure construction. This paper examines the impact of international authoritarian influence on domestic statebuilding, focusing on how Chinese-funded transportation networks shape state strategies in Angola, Mozambique, and Ethiopia. Drawing on Michael Mann’s state theory, it conceptualises the infrastructure-statebuilding nexus, arguing that Chinese-backed infrastructure can strengthen state presence in critical regions, support economic growth, enhance state capacity for repression, and enable societal penetration through expanded administrative infrastructure. This paper contributes to current discussions on the global rise of authoritarian powers, authoritarian statebuilding in post-conflict settings, and the infrastructural perspective in international relations.
