Confederations collapse factors on the example of Senegambia (1982–1989)

Makutchev A. V.

Lately the disputes about the confederation as a form of state structure viability are acute; they are caused by the problems of modern confederations. The purpose of the study is to identify the factors of the confederations collapse. As an empirical basis for this, we can use the experience of the Senegambia Confederation, which was formed in 1982 and broke-up under the weight of internal contradictions in 1989. Results: the prerequisites for the Senegambia Confederation formation were revealed, and universal factors of its collapse were identified and generalized, which should be taken into account when analyzing the development of modern confederations: economic and political imbalance between members of the Confederation; the lack of popular support for the Confederation idea; dissimilar integration expectations of the Confederation; reach the main Confederation objective.

Keywords:confederation, Senegambia, alliance, integration, collapse, state.