“Competing orders in cross border areas of limited statehood: the cases of Southern Tunisia and Northern Mali micro-regions

This chapter aims to compare emerging cross-border dynamics in two micro-regions, Tunisia’s South-eastern border and Northern Mali, characterized by several elements that point to the infringement of the central authority’s capacity to implement decisions and effective state control, thus depicting situations typical of areas of limited statehood. Among those features, the peculiar nature of the borders, mostly desert, representing a natural obstacle in terms of patrolling for state official authorities, but also a challenge for competing non-state actors; the existence of tribal allegiances; the involvement of multiple centres of power; the illicit flows of goods (and people) favouring an underground economy, as well as the widespread sentiment of abandonment among the populace. Drawing on extensive fieldwork, the authors will trace the ambivalent relations between central state and peripheral regions, assess the evolution of the security situation and the impact that the 2011 uprisings and the 2013 Malian conflict had in these complex sub-systems.