Since 1990, more than 10 million people have
been killed in the civil wars of failed states, and
hundreds of millions more have been deprived of
fundamental rights. The threat of terrorism has only
heightened the problem posed by failed states. When
States Fail is the first book to examine how and why
states decay and what, if anything, can be done to
prevent them from collapsing. It defines and categorizes
strong, weak, failing, and collapsed nation-states
according to political, social, and economic criteria.
And it offers a comprehensive recipe for their
reconstruction. The book comprises fourteen essays by
leading scholars and practitioners who help structure
this disparate field of research, provide useful
empirical descriptions, and offer policy
recommendations. Robert Rotberg's substantial opening
chapter sets out a theory and taxonomy of state failure.
It is followed by two sets of chapters, the first on the
nature and correlates of failure, the second on methods
of preventing state failure and reconstructing those
states that do fail. Economic jump-starting, legal
refurbishing, elections, the demobilizing of
ex-combatants, and civil society are among the many
topics discussed. All of the essays are previously
unpublished. In addition to Rotberg, the contributors
include David Carment, Christopher Clapham, Nat J.
Colletta, Jeffrey Herbst, Nelson Kasfir, Michael T.
Klare, Markus Kostner, Terrence Lyons, Jens
Meierhenrich, Daniel N. Posner, Susan Rose-Ackerman,
Donald R. Snodgrass, Nicolas van de Walle, Jennifer A.
Widner, and Ingo Wiederhofer.
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