Analysis of Failed States: Some Problems of Definition and Measurement (original) (raw)
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Global Developments in State Failure A Brief Analysis of the Failed States Index 2005-2010
2011
Analysis of the Failed States Index (FSI) over the period 2005-2010 shows a fairly constant level of global state failure. 1 This re-emphasizes the long-term nature of state failure and suggests it is likely to retain a central position on development, political and security agendas. Seventy percent of the FSI top 10 countries are African. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Sudan, Somalia, Iraq and Chad consistently show the highest levels of state failure. International community contribution varies among the fifteen countries that held a place in the FSI top 10 from 2005-2010. Few of these countries receive more Official Development Assistance (ODA) than the average fragile state; a majority hosts a UN political or peacekeeping mission. Movement in and out of the FSI top 10 between 2005-2010 was limited. Five countries entered: Pakistan, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, CAR and Guinea-Conakry. Increases in their level of state failure do not generally occur on the same indicators. This underlines the diverse nature of state failure and suggests the need for a multifaceted approach. However, in this group of entrants (particularly Pakistan, Zimbabwe and Guinea-Conakry), there are some notable similarities. Three indicators stand out: "refugees and internally displaced persons creating complex humanitarian emergencies", "group grievance or paranoia" and "sharp economic decline''. Five countries left the top 10: Liberia, Sierra Leone, Yemen, Haiti and Côte d'Ivoire. The countries that left the top 10 most convincingly, that is, those that fell further away from the top 10, show decreases on a broader range of failure indicators than those that slipped just outside the top 10. Liberia and Sierra Leone, the countries that moved most decisively out of the top 10, show significant and simultaneous decreases in state failure on three indicators: "quality of public services", "sharp economic decline" and "human rights violations". This offers tentative input for the debate on the focus of external support to such states. Finally, comparing the FSI with Dutch fragile state policy suggests that the Netherland's list of focus countries should be broadened. Based on this analysis, several countries that are currently treated as regular development cooperation partners-Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Yemenshould be engaged from a failed state perspective.
Failed States: From the origin to United Nations interventions in the post-Cold War
Coleção Meira Mattos, 2020
The purpose of this article is to deepen the knowledge about the failed states, analyzing this theme from its origin until its use today. Therefore, this article is structured as follows: initially a brief setting on this subject, followed by the exposure of the research objective. Following are the contrary and favorable currents of thought about the failed states. Subsequently, a brief history is made about the evolution of this theme in society. A debate is then held on the concept of failed states and their use. The next section outlines the methodologies adopted by some Think Tanks that set out to measure state failure. The next section discusses the international community’s attempt to rebuild certain states from the fall of the Berlin Wall. In the final part, reflections are made on the usefulness and importance of this theory today.
The Fund for Peace is an independent, nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) non-profit research and educational organization that works to prevent violent conflict and promote sustainable security. We promote sustainable security through research, training and education, engagement of civil society, building bridges across diverse sectors, and developing innovative technologies and tools for policy makers. A leader in the conflict assessment and early warning field, The Fund for Peace focuses on the problems of weak and failing states. Our objective is to create practical tools and approaches for conflict mitigation that are useful to decision-makers.
‘Failed States’ in Question and the Case of Sub-Saharan Africa
L’Espace Politique, 2017
This paper is about 'failed states' and how we might understand them. The term has come to refer to states that have difficulty imposing civil order; where social provision has markedly deteriorated; where mortality rates are increasing; where movements of a more universalist sort, as notably with the jihadists, can find fertile conditions for recruiting and for their activities more generally; and continually, it seems, the state has difficulty managing the national economy and achieving balance both externally and with respect to its own spending. Resort to the IMF for a bailout is, accordingly, a common index of 'failure.'
The European Journal of Development Research, 2009
This article provides a critical review of recent literature that has attempted to define what a 'failed state' is and explains why such states emerge. It is argued that aggregate indices of 'failure' are misleading due to the wide variations of capacity across state functions within a polity. The focus on ranking states also distracts attention away from analyses concerning the dynamics of state capacity. Moreover, many of the definitions either compare reality to a Weberian ideal, or assume that violence is 'development in reverse', both of which are ahistorical and unhelpful as a guide to policy. The second part of the article assesses the contributions of functionalist, 'new war' and neo-Tillean approaches to explain state failure. The article finds that while these theories take concrete historical situations seriously, they have important theoretical and empirical shortcomings. Finally, the conclusion outlines an agenda for further research. Cet article offre un examen critique de la litte´rature re´cente cherchant a`de´finir ce qu'est un É tat de´faillant, ainsi que les raisons donnant lieu a`leur e´mergence. Il conside`re que les indicateurs agre´ge´s permettant d'e´tablir qu'un É tat est de´faillant sont tous trompeurs en raison de la grande variation qui peut exister au sein d'un meˆme É tat quant a`sa capacite´a`assurer ses diffe´rentes fonctions. Il est souligne´que les classements de´tournent l'attention des analyses portant sur la dynamique variable de la capacite´des É tats. Plusieurs approchent comparent, de plus, la re´alite´avec un ide´al weberien, ou bien supposent que la violence est une forme de de´veloppement) a`l'envers *, ce qui constitue une pre´supposition anhistorique et inutile du point de vue de l'aide a`la de´cision. La deuxie`me partie de l'article se penche en particulier sur les contributions fonctionnalistes, du paradigme des) nouvelles guerres *, ainsi que des approches base´es sur les the´ories de Charles Tilly. Bien que prenant en compte les re´alite´s historiques, ces diffe´rentes approches ont toutes des points faibles, tant the´oriques qu'empiriques, et la conclusion de l'article se base sur ces derniers afin d'e´laborer un agenda de recherche futur a`propos des É tats de´faillants.
Revisiting the Category of Fragile and Failed States in International Relations
International Studies, 2009
International Relations scholars and policy-makers are increasingly paying greater attention to a new category of fragile and failed states across Asia, Africa, the Balkans, the Caucasus, Latin America and the Middle East. While effective policy responses are necessary to strengthen these politically fractured, economically collapsing and socially divided states, the category itself appears to be more politically and ideologically charged and less critically understood in the context of international relations. There is a general tendency to avoid examining how political and economic policies and military actions by the West contributed to the degeneration of these states. This article seeks to re-examine the causes of state fragility and failure, and critically reviews the current US strategies to rebuild the failed states of Afghanistan and Iraq. It argues that the US-led statebuilding strategies in both countries are based on a wrong diagnosis of the political and social problems...
Beyond the 'failed state': Toward conceptual alternatives
The article advances conceptual alternatives to the 'failed state.' It provides reasons why the concept is deficient, showing especially how counterproductive it is to aggregate states as diverse as Colombia, Malawi, Somalia, Iraq, Haiti, and Tajikistan. I argue for distinguishing among capacity gaps, security gaps, and legitimacy gaps that states experience. Importantly, I show that these gaps often do not coincide in a given country, and that the logical responses to each of the three gaps diverge in significant ways. I offer brief case examples of the logic of response to the gaps and of the tensions that must be managed among them. The article advances the debate over an important and under-theorized emergent concept in global politics.
How to Stabilize Failing States: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of International Intervention
2011
The international community is often challenged with stabilizing failing states that are incapable of providing security, health, food and water to their citizens. Humanitarian concern about starvation, rapes, massacres, and oppression of the vulnerable in these states must be addressed. These states may also provide safe havens for terrorists and other groups that become threats to global security. The international community establishes complex missions with both a "soft approach" of providing only humanitarian aid and a stronger version that exercises binding power over local stakeholders. This thesis analyzes these complex international interventions and argues that missions with binding power are more successful. It begins with theoretical reasoning on why missions with binding power are expected to be successful and continues with empirical data through the comparison of 13 international missions in eight different countries. Five of these international interventions in three countries are reviewed in detail. The UNMIK and EULEX in Kosovo and UNOSOM in Somalia are considered as successful examples while the UNOSOM II and AMISOM in Somalia are failures. Finally, this thesis analyzes the current situation in Yemen and provides policy recommendations by applying lessons drawn from the analysis and comparison of the case studies in Kosovo and Somalia.
Fragile and Failed States in International Relations
International Relations scholars and policy-makers are increasingly paying greater attention to a new category of fragile and failed states across Asia, Africa, the Balkans, the Caucasus, Latin America and the Middle East. While effective policy responses are necessary to strengthen these politically fractured, economically collapsing and socially divided states, the category itself appears to be more politically and ideologically charged and less critically understood in the context of international relations. There is a general tendency to avoid examining how political and economic policies and military actions by the West contributed to the degeneration of these states. This article seeks to re-examine the causes of state fragility and failure, and critically reviews the current US strategies to rebuild the failed states of Afghanistan and Iraq. It argues that the US-led state-building strategies in both countries are based on a wrong diagnosis of the political and social problems, and the solutions offered are also ill-conceived. The article also contends that the Western liberal vision of the state, premised on the Weberian notion, commands less relevance to the fragile and failed states in the non-Western world.