Lecture 22: Failed States

1. Lecture 22: Failed States May 17, 2010

2. Extra Credit Opportunity! Challenges and Opportunities for Human Rights in Russia Lara Iglitzin Executive Director, Henry M. Jackson Foundation Tuesday May 18, 20107:00-9:00 PM Walker Ames Room - Kane Hall 225 (Free and open to the public!)

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

4. 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

5. 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 FlightEconomic Indicators 5.  Uneven Economic Development along Group Lines 6.  Sharp and/or Severe Economic DeclinePolitical 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

6. Who’s a Failed State?

7. 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 http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2009/06/22/2009_failed_states_index_interactive_map_and_rankings

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

9. Wars Over Time

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

11. 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

12. Huntington’s World

13. 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

14. Faultlines?

15. 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?

16. 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

18. 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

19. “Africa’s World War”

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

21. 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