Comments on: Top 5 reasons why “failed state” is a failed concept

By: Michael

Michael — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 16:37:22 +0000

Failed states are like the famous definition of pornography: I can’t always define one but I know when when I see one. Nevertheless…Definition #1: Doesn’t protect its people, Def#2, doesn’t provide goods and services, Def#3 High levels of official corruption, Def#4 No way to rectify 1,2, or 3….was that so difficult? Thank-god economists don’t handle heavy equipment, (-:

By: ‘failed state’ as a failed concept « Thought du Jour

‘failed state’ as a failed concept « Thought du Jour — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 12:19:17 +0000

[...] Easterly and Laura Freschi, “Top 5 reasons why ‘Failed state’ is a failed concept”, Aid Watch, 13 January [...]

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Mon, 18 Jan 2010 09:13:27 +0000

[...] Bill Easterly and Laura Freschi argue that ‘failed states’ are a failed concept [...]

By: Robert Tulip

Robert Tulip — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 14:41:42 +0000

To paraphrase Tolstoy, successful states are in some respects all alike but failed states each fail in their own way. Africa has several failed states. Failure of the economics profession to address the problem of state failure is hardly evidence for the success of Somalia, Zimbabwe or DRC. Quantizing failure in economic terms alone may remain elusive, considering that state failure is primarily political, requiring political solutions. UN protectorates would be a better option than the predators who now wield state power in the world’s forgotten corners.

By: pm

pm — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 05:53:23 +0000

I have to disagree with your first point that state failure does not produce terrorism. The argument is not that state failure produces terrorism, but that it provides an area where terrorists can thrive. On this question there has been some research:
“Black Holes: On Terrorist Sanctuaries and
Governmental Weakness.” By: REM KORTEWEG
And
“Incubators of Terror: Do Failed and Failing
States Promote Transnational Terrorism?” By: James Piazza.
Admittedly I’ve not extensively reviewed these works, so there may be flaws.
Also, Foreign Policy and the Fund for Peace keeps an annual data set called the State Failure Index, although it is probably better understood as a political stability index.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 20:38:31 +0000

Great post, great discussion. I think the post raises good points about how this term has been abused and misused. But that doesn’t mean there is no need for such a concept or that just because it has been overused, that there aren’t occasions where its use is appropriate. To me, the case that defines the concept is Somalia where virtually all of the functions of a state have ceased to exist in any way that allows engagement with the outside world. For people who want to figure out how to engage with the people from the land formerly known as Somalia, a new noun is needed.

By: Dan Kyba

Dan Kyba — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 18:59:01 +0000

“Failed State’ is not the first, nor will it be the last concept which has been applied in an inappropriate context. The term ‘Democracy’ has been especially abused this way. The challenge is to insist that such terms are defined and applied properly.
The quick definition I gave is taken from Douglass North and Mancur Olson. For either economist, the necessity of coercive authority against the free-rider problem is self-evident. We can look at this point from another direction:
“Lest the world be reorganised to the advantage of the more opportunistic agents, checks against opportunism are needed” (Williamson, Oliver E., 1996: 48) and continuing:
“Whether they are democratic or hierarchical, utopian modes require deep commitment to collective purposes and commonly involve person subordination. The history of social and economic organisation records repeated efforts to craft such structures. But utopian structures are especially vulnerable to the pound of opportunism” (Williamson, Oliver E., 1985: 52)

By: George D

George D — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 05:52:24 +0000

“Dan Kyba wrote:

I have worked in the Solomon Islands which to me fits the definition of a ‘failed state’ during the so-called Tensions. I define a state as the organisational vehicle by which public goods are provided and protected. ”

Most academics I talk to find state failure to be a particularly unhelpful concept for describing the Solomon Islands and elsewhere in the western Pacific, and one that – as above – invites the securitisation of the discourse and the invitation for the military to take over problem-solving approaches.

I think it’s time to declare Foreign Affairs as a failed journal.

By: Winton Bates

Winton Bates — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 00:32:36 +0000

I agree that the “failed state” is not a useful concept.
If we want to say that a particular society lacks the institutions of a good society I think it is desirable to be specific about what specific institutions are lacking.
I think the ‘good society’ is a useful concept for reasons I give here: http://wintonbates.blogspot.com/2009/12/is-good-society-useful-concept.html

By: azmyth

azmyth — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 22:29:32 +0000

I usually use Doug North’s definition of state “an organization with a comparative advantage in violence, extending over a geographic area whose boundaries are determined by its power to tax constituents” (North 1981:21). By this definition, the “interregnum” criterion is a good one.

The worst thing that can happen to a term is where one group uses it to mean one thing and another group uses it to mean another. I would not say that North Korea is a failed state, because they maintain their comparative advantage in violence, but others might.