1. Failed States

2. States Weber: legitimate monopoly of violence
+ extract taxes
provide public services
14th-17th century: monarchs, war, taxes, bureaucracies
19th/20th century  nation-state
Colonial boundaries retained after independence
Post-WWII: high demands made on states

3. What’s a Failed State?
loss of physical control of territory or a monopoly on the legitimate use of force
erosion of legitimate authority to make collective decisions
an inability to provide reasonable public services
(according to the Fund for Peace)
“the collapse of state institutions, especially the police and judiciary, with resulting paralysis of governance, a breakdown of law and order, and general banditry and chaos. Not only are the functions of government suspended, but its assets are destroyed or looted and experienced officials are killed or flee the country.”
--Boutros Boutros-Ghali

4. Indicators (FP Magazine)
Social Indicators 1.  Mounting Demographic Pressures 2.  Massive Movement of Refugees or Internally Displaced Persons
creating Complex Humanitarian Emergencies 3.  Legacy of Vengeance-Seeking Group Grievance or Group
Paranoia 4.  Chronic and Sustained Human Flight  Economic Indicators 5.  Uneven Economic Development along Group Lines 6.  Sharp and/or Severe Economic Decline  Political Indicators 7.  Criminalization and/or Delegitimization of the State 8.  Progressive Deterioration of Public Services 9.  Suspension or Arbitrary Application of the Rule of Law and Widespread Violation of Human Rights 10. Security Apparatus Operates as a "State Within a State" 11. Rise of Factionalized Elites 12. Intervention of Other States or External Political Actors

5. Who’s a Failed State?

6. 2009 “Winners” 1) Somalia 2) Zimbabwe 3) Sudan 4) Chad
5) Democratic Republic of the Congo
6) Iraq
7) Afghanistan
8) Central African Republic
9) Guinea
10) Pakistan

7. Why Should We Care About Failed States?
Failed states  civil war

8. Wars Over Time

9. Why Should We Care About Failed States?
Failed states  civil war
Spillover
Breakdown of public health, infrastructure famine, epidemics
Illicit trade
Terrorism

10. Why States Fail I: Identity-based Conflict
19th and 20th century conflicts involved nation-states
Emergence of sub-national, supra-national identities in 21st century
Samuel Huntington, “Clash of Civilizations” (1993)
Civilization: “highest cultural grouping of people and the broadest level of cultural identity people have short of that which distinguishes humans from other species.”
8 civilizations

11. Huntington’s World

12. Why States Fail I: Identity-based Conflict
19th and 20th century conflicts involved nation-states
“Re-emergence” of ancient identities in 21st century?
Samuel Huntington, “Clash of Civilizations” (1993)
Civilization: “highest cultural grouping of people and the broadest level of cultural identity people have short of that which distinguishes humans from other species.”
8 civilizations
Faultlines

13. Faultlines?

14. Why States Fail I: Identity-based Conflict
19th and 20th century conflicts involved nation-states
“Re-emergence” of ancient identities in 21st century?
Samuel Huntington, “Clash of Civilizations” (1993)
Civilization: “highest cultural grouping of people and the broadest level of cultural identity people have short of that which distinguishes humans from other species.”
8 civilizations
Faultlines
Influential in (some) policy circles
Criticism: Selective evidence; simplistic; self-fulfilling?

15. Why States Fail II: Colonial Legacies
Artificial borders
Low levels of development
Independence without state institutions
Failed attempts to build national identity
Incompetent governance
Corruption
Patronage (buying support)
Autocracy
Extreme poverty and debt

17. Why Do States Fail? Artificial borders Low levels of development
Premature independence
Failed attempts to build national identity
Incompetent governance
Corruption
Patronage
Autocracy
Extreme poverty and debt
End of Cold War support
Greed and grievance

18. “Africa’s World War”

19. DRC’s Collapse Cold War support (Mobutu installed 1965)
Corrupt, repressive government
End of Cold War support
Rebellion, plunder
Opportunistic intervention

20. How to Fix Failed States?
Externally driven state-building 
long-term commitment, intelligent planning, deep understanding of society and culture, international cooperation, lots of money, acceptance of casualties
Need a state-building corps?
Governance reform
Foreign aid, debt relief
Containment
Why it’s difficult: collective action problem—everyone waits for everyone else to act