The concept of ‘failed states’ is a relatively new political concept that has entered international relations since the fall of the wall. Many international problems such as crime, poverty, extremist movements, terrorism and drug trafficking can be traced back to the failed states that often serve as the source of these international problems. What exactly are ‘failed states’?
Responsible state
It is the responsibility of the state to provide its citizens with political goods such as; to provide security, healthcare and education, economic opportunities, good government, law enforcement and infrastructure facilities and to assure them of these goods. States fail when they can no longer perform these functions. The most actual loss of a state is the loss of its monopoly on violence. As Max Weber puts it: a state is not a state without a monopoly on violence.
Failed state
The phenomenon of failed state, or collapsed state, failed state, fragile states or; as called by the World Bank: low-income countries under stress, is a relatively new concept in international political science. After the fall of the Wall, the US was left alone as hegemon, causing many states to fall into post-dictatorial decline. There were of course already weak states during the Cold War, for example Congo and Nigeria, but the increase in failed states mainly increased during the 1990s. There was no longer a megastate that could take the weak under its wing. Since the attacks on September 11, failed states have actually been given a place on the political agenda, in view of the invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001. The risks of failed states suddenly became visible due to the international rise of the terrorist network Al Qaeda.
There is no conclusive definition of the concept of failed state, but Schrijver (2004) describes the concept as follows: A failed state is a state that is unable to control (large parts of) its territory and the security of guarantee its citizens. This is because it has lost the monopoly on violence; the most fundamental characteristic. Due to the loss of its monopoly on violence, the state is no longer able to maintain the internal legal order and provide public services to its population or create the conditions for this.
No objective dimensions
There are no objective dimensions that a state must or must not meet to be classified as a failed state. It is therefore difficult to say whether a state has failed or not. The concept of failed state must therefore also be seen as a spectrum within which states fluctuate. A state is to a certain extent a failed state. One state is divided in a long civil war, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, while another state has a violent regime in power, for example Iraq under Saddam Hussein. Somalia is also given as an example of a failed state, due to the long-term lack of a central authority and the country being governed by de facto entities. As mentioned, there is no official definition of the concept of failed states, nor is there an objective way to measure it. Nevertheless, the Fund for Peace has developed a measuring instrument based on a number of dimensions and indicators, resulting in the Failed State Index. They give the following countries a high score (descending): Sudan, Iraq, Somalia, Zimbabwe, Chad, Ivory Coast, DRC, Afghanistan, Guinea, Central African Republic, Haiti and Pakistan. These countries score extremely poorly on dimensions such as; demographic pressure, refugee flows, group grievances, uneven and declining economic development, criminal and corrupt government, decline in public services, law enforcement, human rights compliance, rise of elite formation, and intervention by other states or external political actors. This index gives a good picture of the countries and regions that are in a critical or escalated situation. It is mainly the countries around the Great Lakes region in Central Africa and the Middle East that can call themselves failed states.
Implications
Failing states first and foremost affect the population, who no longer have a guarantee of security due to the failure of necessary state functions and responsibilities. The land often slides; violence arises, erosion of human dignity and impunity. Institutions become ineffective due to corruption and, because these institutions are often imposed by outside states, they do not take root in this non-Western cultural environment. This confirms the weakness of the state, because citizens have nothing to rely on.
A weak state becomes vulnerable both internally and externally. Internal abuse is characterized by unbridled self-enrichment by leading government officials and cronyism, with President Mobutu of the former Zaire as an example.
Congo
The contemporary Democratic Republic of Congo is also a good example of external abuse, due to the exploitation of raw materials and the subsequent trade that takes place mainly through Rwanda and Uganda. A state that
has lost effective authority over its territory is a danger to itself but also to its environment. Surrounding countries may suffer cross-border impacts and conflicts may spill over, leading to an unstable region. The area around the Great Lakes in Central Africa is a striking example of this. After the genocide in Rwanda in 1994, the conflict spread to the DRC, resulting in two wars and more than ten years of war. Failed states should not be underestimated, because an unstable region is also a danger to Europe.