The Lure of State Failure (original) (raw)

The Fallacy of the ‘Failed State’

Third World Quarterly, 2008

This article examines the origins and evolution of the concepts of 'failed' and 'failing' states, arguing that the terms have come t o be used in such widely divergent and problematic ways that they have lost any utility. The article details six serious problems with the term 'state failure' and related terms like 'fragile' or 'troubled' states, concluding that analysts should abandon these terms. It concludes with a modest attempt to develop alternative concepts and principles for thinking about diverse states that pose varied challenges for academie analysis and policy makers. Since the concept of 'failed states' entered the USA's political lexicon in the early 1990s, it has come to occupy a prominent place in international peace and security. The attacks of 9/11 focused attention on the failure of the Afghan state to prevent the operation of al-Qaeda on its territory. The situation in that country, and subsequent growing concern about other similar states, only intensified concern about the role of 'failed states' in harbouring or aiding terrorism. The US National Security Strategy of 2002 marked this shift from the battlefields of Europe: 'America is now threatened less by conquering states than by failing ones'. Yet the 'failed states' concept-and related terms like 'failing', 'fragile', 'stressed' and 'troubled' states-has become more of a liability than an asset. Foundations and think-tanks have rushed to fund work on 'failing' states, resulting in a proliferation of multiple, divergent and poorly defined uses of the term. Not only does the term 'failing state' reflect the schoolmarm's scorecard according to linear index defined by a univocal Weberian endstate, but it has also grown to encompass states as diverse as

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.

Revisiting the Discourse on State Failure: Towards a Conflict Resolution Trajectory

2011

REVISITING THE DISCOURSE ON STATE FAILURE: TOWARDS A CONFLICT RESOLUTION TRAJECTORY Saira Yamin, Ph.D. George Mason University, 2011 Dissertation Director: Dr. Dennis J.D. Sandole This research is a comparative case study of eight states in Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East assessing the impact of external military interventions in response to the perceived threat of state failure in the post Cold War, post 9/11 landscape. The study is guided by the concern that prominent Western literature on state failure and fragility is generally focused on endogenous sources of state weakness and precludes the importance of the regional and global context. It contributes to the literature by presenting a comprehensive multi-level diagnostic framework to effectively guide viable third party interventions in weak, fragile, and failed states. Theoretical inquiry is guided by a smallN approach to explore the context of state fragility and failure in a range of weak, fragile and failed states....

The Fallacies of the 'Failed State' Concept

The Fallacies of the 'Failed State' Concept 2 Acknowledgement First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to my dissertation supervisor Professor Robert Geyer who with his patience, guidance and most of all outstanding intellect has helped me in the past months tackle a subject I am particularly passionate about. I am forever grateful having him as my tutor, accompanying me on this journey by always promptly answering all my queries. Furthermore, I wish to present my appreciation to the Politics, Philosophy and Religion Department for offering me this fantastic opportunity. The course co-ordinator Doctor Amalendu Misra has provided an excellent framework for organising my dissertation efficiently in terms of time and structure. Finally, I also want to acknowledge Doctor Kunal Mukherjee who has consulted me several times during the academic year on my case study.

The making of failed states

This final paper argues that the concept of failing states, too, is a dominant discourse by dominant states, which has been internalized to an extent where it structures the actors’ way of thinking both about others but also about themselves. It represents a change in ideas, because actors in the international scene are thinking differently about the Third World. The main question is how radical that change really is. In the words of Peter A. Hall: Does the emergence and gained importance of the failed state concept represent a first, second or third order ideational change?

An Analysis of the Notion of a "Failed States"

In the post-Cold War era, it has become increasingly evident that one of the most important challenges for the world community is that posed by so-called failed states. Many serious problems that contemporary societies face with highly significant international connections are described on the basis of this phenomenon within multiple academic disciplines. On the other hand, there are theoretically developed different definitions on this concept which are usually extremely brief and in some cases even very ideological. This paper, introducing theoretical concepts behind its differing definitions, is trying to analyze the notion of failed states, while also searching for possible sociological standpoints. Keywords: Failed states, international politics, European colonialism, critical approach.

Rethinking the concept of failed state

This study summarises the history of failed state concept, the difficulties of a clear definition of failed state and the reasons why the categories of various linking expressions like weak, fragile, failing, collapsed states are mixing. 2015 remained a turbulent year of conflicts in the world, which drew attention on failed states. One of the symptoms of failed states is the form of forced migration when people leave their home due to intrastate armed conflicts, terrorist activities, brutal violation of human rights, poverty, lack of humanitarian aid and poor public services. The study outlines the connection with security and one of the biggest actual global phenomena, the mass refugee movements. That has become in the focus of the European discourse due to the humanitarian catastrophe in the Mediterranean. The current measurement of instable states is problematic which has strong impact on interventions and aid operations.