ABSTRACT
For a few years, it has been en vogue to speak of failed and fragile states as threats to security (see, for example Mallaby 2002; Rotberg 2002). Western policymakers tend to emphasize the global-level dangers of state failure, while NGOs and representatives of developing countries highlight its impact at the regional, national, and local levels. Thus, it is imperative to ask ‘whose security’ (Baldwin 1997: 12) we are talking about. For the purposes of this chapter, ‘state failure’ is defined as the inability of a state to
provide security and public goods to its citizens; to collect taxes; and to formulate, implement and enforce policies and laws. It is acknowledged that the term ‘state failure’ can be somewhat misleading, since what is considered ‘failure’ can also be construed as an ongoing project of constructing patterns of political order that do not necessarily conform to Western notions of statehood. This semantic issue aside, state failure, however it is conceptualized, is a highly salient security issue on a number of levels. In the following section, a definition of state failure and some theoretical background
is provided. Subsequently, current trends of state failure and the results of research into its causes are presented. The third section details the security implications of state failure at the global, regional and national/local levels. The final section concludes by discussing the promises and shortcomings of state building as a strategy to overcome state fragility.
Research on state failure requires a definition of statehood. Baker and Ausink provide a helpful definition that can serve as a stepping stone:
