The Fund for Peace is an American non-profit , non-governmental research and educational institution. Founded in 1957, FFP "works to prevent violent conflict and promote sustainable security ."
139-500: The Fund for Peace works towards sustainable security and development in failed states by focusing on conflict assessment and early warning, transnational threats, peacekeeping , and security and human rights . The Fund for Peace maintains programs in Nigeria , Uganda , Liberia , and works with private business in conflict zones to better secure the interests of businesses, local populations, and their governments. The Fund for Peace
278-410: A propellant charge of more than four ounces [113 g], missile having an explosive or incendiary charge of more than one-quarter ounce [7 g], or mine or device similar to the above. (2) Poison gas. (3) Any weapon involving a disease organism. (4) Any weapon that is designed to release radiation at a level dangerous to human life. For the general purposes of national defense, the U.S. Code defines
417-407: A "coming anarchy" in various global regions. According to the political theories of Max Weber , a state is defined as maintaining a monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force within its borders. When this is broken (e.g., through the dominant presence of warlords , paramilitary groups, corrupt policing , armed gangs , or terrorism ), the very existence of the state becomes dubious, and
556-436: A "significant portion of its political elites and society reject the rules regulating power and the accumulation and distribution of wealth." Instead of attempting to quantify the degree of failure of a state, the gap framework provides a three-dimensional scope useful to analyze the interplay between the government and the society in states in a more analytical way. Call does not necessarily suggest that states that suffer from
695-493: A Weapon of Mass Destruction may be imprisoned for any term of years or for life, and if resulting in death, be punishable by death or by imprisonment for any terms of years or for life. They can also be asked to pay a maximum fine of $ 250,000. The Washington Post reported on 30 March 2006: "Jurors asked the judge in the death penalty trial of Zacarias Moussaoui today to define the term 'weapons of mass destruction' and were told it includes airplanes used as missiles". Moussaoui
834-760: A Western model of the state. Weapons of mass destruction A weapon of mass destruction ( WMD ) is a biological , chemical , radiological , nuclear , or any other weapon that can kill or significantly harm many people or cause great damage to artificial structures (e.g., buildings), natural structures (e.g., mountains), or the biosphere . The scope and usage of the term has evolved and been disputed, often signifying more politically than technically. Originally coined in reference to aerial bombing with chemical explosives during World War II , it has later come to refer to large-scale weaponry of warfare -related technologies, such as biological , chemical , radiological , or nuclear warfare . The first use of
973-647: A card that trumps all forms of aggression"). In its criminal complaint against the main suspect of the Boston Marathon bombing of 15 April 2013, the FBI refers to a pressure-cooker improvised bomb as a "weapon of mass destruction." There have been calls to classify at least some classes of cyber weapons as WMD, in particular those aimed to bring about large-scale (physical) destruction, such as by targeting critical infrastructure . However, some scholars have objected to classifying cyber weapons as WMD on
1112-612: A chemical weapons stockpile in 2009 which U.N. personnel had secured after the 1991 Gulf War. The stockpile contained mainly chemical precursors, but some munitions remained usable. Because of its prolific use and (worldwide) public profile during this period, the American Dialect Society voted "weapons of mass destruction" (and its abbreviation, "WMD") the word of the year in 2002, and in 2003 Lake Superior State University added WMD to its list of terms banished for "Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness" (and "as
1251-447: A combination of international and domestic organizations which seek to rebuild states. Fearon and Laitin start with the assumption that failed states comprise a collective action problem . Failed states impose negative externalities on the rest of the international system, like refugees who are displaced by war. It would be a net good for the international system if countries worked to develop and rebuild failed states. However, intervention
1390-404: A conceptual framework, quantitative and qualitative indicators...and a rating system for trend analysis. " However, CAST may be criticized for putting too much emphasis on technology and equations, and not enough on the human analysis. Furthermore, CAST is a tool that remains static, despite the specific conflict at hand. Each case is unique, and CAST does not have the mathematical ability to assess
1529-458: A failed state include a government incapable of tax collection , law enforcement , security assurance, territorial control, political or civil office staffing, and infrastructure maintenance. When this happens, widespread corruption and criminality , the intervention of state and non-state actors, the appearance of refugees and the involuntary movement of populations, sharp economic decline, and military intervention from both within and outside
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#17327732750011668-403: A failed state is an invented rationale to impose developed states' interests on less powerful states. The labeling of states like Somalia or Liberia, as failed states, gives Western countries the legitimization to impose the western idea of a stable nation-state. It is commonly accepted that nation-building or international response to troubled/rogue states happens too late or too quickly which
1807-699: A four level-ranking system ("Alert," "Warning," "Moderate," "Sustainable") to determine the current conditions and negative potential in the future. All four nations on high "Alert" are a part of the African continent: Somalia , Sudan , South Sudan , the Democratic Republic of the Congo . At the "Warning" level were many Latin American or former Soviet nations, including Moldova , Russia , Belarus , Colombia , Bolivia , and Mexico . At "Moderate" were
1946-517: A guerilla victory in a civil war, Eritrea's forceful secession from Ethiopia, and development in Somaliland and Puntland—autonomous regions of Somalia—to support his claims. Weinstein does note that lack of external intervention can lead to mass killings and other atrocities, but he emphasizes that preventing mass killings has to be weighed against the ensuing loss of long-term state capacity . Capability trap means that countries are progressing at
2085-592: A metrics framework for peacekeeping. The project includes concepts from the book The Quest for Viable Peace with the theoretical approach of the Fund for Peace's CAST methodology. The organizations involved are interested in helping governments determine the outcome of Stabilization and Reconstruction Operations. Failed state A failed state is a state that has lost its ability to fulfill fundamental security and development functions, lacking effective control over its territory and borders. Common characteristics of
2224-450: A powerful state with security interests in the failed state to take the lead in the peacekeeping operations and serve a point role. Having a single state lead the peacekeeping operation would also help solve the coordination problem. The empowerment of a UN body to investigate human rights abuses would solve the accountability problem. Finally, forcing the failed state to contribute funds to peacekeeping operations after several years can reduce
2363-666: A pre-operational nuclear reactor inside Iraq by the Israeli Air Force in 1981, the Israeli prime minister, Menachem Begin , countered criticism by saying that "on no account shall we permit an enemy to develop weapons of mass destruction against the people of Israel." This policy of pre-emptive action against real or perceived weapons of mass destruction became known as the Begin Doctrine . The term "weapons of mass destruction" continued to see periodic use, usually in
2502-410: A region to be considered as a "Terrorist Black Hole". According to the study, social tensions, the legacy from civil conflict, geography, corruption and policy failure, as well as external factors contribute to governmental weakness. The comparative advantages are religion and ethnicity, the legacy from civil conflict, geography, economic opportunities, economic underdevelopment, and regional stimuli. Only
2641-452: A so-called failed nation-state is crushed by internal violence or disruption, and consequently is no longer able to deliver positive political goods to its inhabitants, developed states feel the obligation to intervene and assist in rebuilding them. However, intervention is not always seen positively, but due to past intervention by for instance the US government, scholars argue that the concept of
2780-511: A speech at Rice University on 12 September 1962, President John F. Kennedy spoke of not filling space "with weapons of mass destruction, but with instruments of knowledge and understanding." The following month, during a televised presentation about the Cuban Missile Crisis on 22 October 1962, Kennedy made reference to "offensive weapons of sudden mass destruction." An early use of the exact phrase in an international treaty
2919-741: A speech at the United Nations probably written by Herbert Bayard Swope ). The phrase found its way into the very first resolution the United Nations General assembly adopted in January 1946 in London, which used the wording "the elimination from national armaments of atomic weapons and of all other weapons adaptable to mass destruction." The resolution also created the Atomic Energy Commission (predecessor of
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#17327732750013058-462: A stage model as, in his opinion, states do not necessarily undergo every stage. Robert I. Rotberg's model underlies an ordinal logic and thus, implies that the state failure process is a chronological chain of phases. Charles Tilly (1985) argued that war-making was an indispensable aspect of state development in Europe through the following interdependent functions: Tilly summarized this linkage in
3197-432: A state from developing strong internal institutions and capabilities. One of Weinstein's key arguments is that war leads to peace. By this, he means that peace agreements imposed by the international community tend to freeze in place power disparities that do not reflect reality. Weinstein believes that such a situation leaves a state ripe for future war, while if the war were allowed to play out for one side to win decisively,
3336-513: A state is failing or has failed can be drawn from the observation of a variety of characteristics and combinations thereof. Examples of such characteristics include - but are not limited to - the presence of an insurgency , extreme political corruption , overwhelming crime rates suggestive of an incapacitated police force, an impenetrable and ineffective bureaucracy, judicial ineffectiveness, military interference in politics, and consolidation of power by regional actors such that it rivals or eliminates
3475-421: A very slow pace in the expansion of state capability even in the contemporary world, which is also the core problem of failed states. Many countries remain stuck in conditions of low productivity that many call "poverty traps". Economic growth is only one aspect of development; another key dimension of development is the expansion of the administrative capability of the state, the capability of governments to affect
3614-448: A weapon of mass destruction as: For the purposes of the prevention of weapons proliferation , the U.S. Code defines weapons of mass destruction as "chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons, and chemical, biological, and nuclear materials used in the manufacture of such weapons". For the purposes of U.S. criminal law concerning terrorism, weapons of mass destruction are defined as: The Federal Bureau of Investigation 's definition
3753-428: A weapon of mass destruction". He prefers to call chemical and biological weapons "weapons of terror" when aimed against civilians and "weapons of intimidation" for soldiers. Testimony of one such soldier expresses the same viewpoint. For a period of several months in the winter of 2002–2003, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz frequently used the term "weapons of mass terror", apparently also recognizing
3892-613: Is a long-standing civil society participant of the Voluntary Principles on Security & Human Rights initiative, and currently serves on the initiative's Steering Committee and Board of Directors. For conflict assessment , the Fund for Peace utilizes the Conflict Assessment System Tool (CAST). CAST was created in 1996 as a system of locating and analyzing potential conflicts in failed states . It works by incorporating "theoretical rationale,
4031-500: Is a slow process and it is disingenuous to suggest otherwise to the domestic public. Pritchett, Woolcock, and Andrews (2013) analyzed the systematic failure of the development of failed states. They defined "state administrative capability for implementation" as the key aspect of state development, and found out the mechanism in which failed states stumbled regardless of decades of development practices tried, billions of dollars spent, and alleged "progress" boasted. These countries adopted
4170-657: Is biased towards constituencies with high vote shares for the incumbent, so the geographic distribution of aid changes to their supporters following a change of regime. Furthermore, aid can also be diverted to non-state actors, and thus undermine the state's monopoly on violence, such as in Colombia during the 1990s and 2000s, where US aid to the Colombian military was diverted by the military to paramilitary groups, leading to significant increases in paramilitary violence in municipalities located near military bases. The implication
4309-484: Is checked against human analysis. UNLocK links global information technologies with local social networks for the benefits of stakeholders. FFP conducts workshops in the conflict-affected countries of Liberia , Uganda , and Nigeria , training local participants in the Conflict Assessment System Tool (CAST). They train others at the community level. Data collected from field reports by the participants are analyzed for signs of early-warning conflict. The aggregate data
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4448-430: Is confronted with an increasing level of transnational crime in which criminal conduct in one country has an impact in another or even several others. Drug trafficking, human trafficking, computer crimes, terrorism, and a host of other crimes can involve actors operating outside the borders of a country which might have a significant interest in stemming the activity in question and prosecuting the perpetrator". A study of
4587-491: Is directed inwards, causing the pit of uranium or plutonium to compress to a dense point. Once the uranium/plutonium is dense enough, neutrons are then injected. This starts a fission chain reaction also known as an atomic explosion. Nuclear fusion is essentially the opposite of fission. It is the fusing together of nuclei, not the splitting of it. When exposed to extreme pressure and temperature, some lightweight nuclei can fuse together and form heavier nuclei, releasing energy in
4726-497: Is due to inadequate analysis or lack of political will. Still, it is important to highlight that developed nations and their aid institutions have had a positive impact on many failed states. Nation-building is context-specific and thus a countries' cultural-political, as well as social environment, needs to be carefully analyzed before intervening as a foreign state. The Western world has increasingly become concerned about failed states and sees them as threats to security. The concept of
4865-657: Is formed because of the large cash contributions that Western countries have given to African countries have created institutions that are "less accountable to their citizens and under less pressure to maintain popular legitimacy." They mention that the gradual decrease of aid may help foster long-lasting institutions, which is proven by the United States' efforts in Korea after the Cold War. Berman, Eli, Felter, Shapiro, and Trolan (2013) also found similar evidence to support
5004-549: Is given a weight of 10, adding up to a total of 120. However, in order to add up to 120, the indicator scores are rounded up or down to the nearest one decimal place. In the 2015 Index, South Sudan ranked number one, Somalia number two, and the Central African Republic number three. Finland is currently the most stable and sustainable country in the list. While the FSI is used in many pieces of research and makes
5143-489: Is in the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, but the treaty provides no definition of the phrase, and the treaty also categorically prohibits the stationing of "weapons" and the testing of "any type of weapon" in outer space, in addition to its specific prohibition against placing in orbit, or installing on celestial bodies, "any objects carrying nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction." During
5282-531: Is privately disseminated back to the participants and used to resolve disputes, identify priority issues at the community level, and as a way to obtain more immediate early warning and conflict prevention information. While the recent elections in Nigeria were widely recognized as a major step forward in the difficult journey toward democracy, UNLocK Nigeria provided a ground-level view of challenges that remained, including incidents of ballot box snatching, vote-buying, abductions, and violence. This report focuses on
5421-402: Is similar to that presented above from the terrorism statute: Indictments and convictions for possession and use of WMD such as truck bombs, pipe bombs , shoe bombs, and cactus needles coated with a biological toxin have been obtained under 18 USC 2332a. As defined by 18 USC §2332 (a), a Weapon of Mass Destruction is: Under the same statute, conspiring, attempting, threatening, or using
5560-557: Is that foreign aid can undermine the state by both feeding corruption of incumbent elites, and empowering groups outside of the state. Moss, Todd, Gunilla Pettersson, and Nicolas Van de Walle (2006) acknowledged the controversy over the effect of foreign aid that has developed in recent years. They argued that although there is a call for an increase in large aid efforts in Africa by the international community, this will actually create what they call an "aid-institutions paradox". This paradox
5699-608: Is the National Dialogue forums. In 2008 and 2009, the Fund for Peace partnered up with local organizations, such as chambers of commerce and universities, across the country and organized "'traveling town halls.'" The purpose of these were to discuss topics relating to the presidential election, and the condition of the United States and its population. The format of the forums were designed to encourage participation and dialogue on behalf of Americans to actively and critically think about their role, their country's condition, and
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5838-439: Is uniquely challenging. When a criminal operates outside the territory of an offended state, the offended state might ordinarily appeal to the state from which the criminal is operating to take some sort of action, such as to prosecute the offender domestically or extradite the offender so that he or she may face punishment in the offended state. Nonetheless, in situations in which a government is unable (or unwilling) to cooperate in
5977-435: Is very costly, and no single nation has a strong enough incentive to act to solve the problem of a failed state. Therefore, international cooperation is necessary to solve this collective action problem. Fearon and Laitin identify four main problems to achieving collective action to intervene in failed states: Fearon and Laitin do propose some solutions to these problems. To solve the recruitment problem, they argue for having
6116-408: Is when the nucleus of an atom is split into smaller nuclei. This process can be induced by shooting a neutron at the nucleus of an atom. When the neutron is absorbed by the atom, it becomes unstable, causing it to split and release energy. Modern nuclear weapons start this process by detonating chemical explosives around a pit of either uranium-235 or plutonium-239 metal. The force from this detonation
6255-639: The 2001 anthrax attacks in the United States, an increased fear of nonconventional weapons and asymmetric warfare took hold in many countries. The fear reached a crescendo with the 2002 Iraq disarmament crisis and the alleged existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq that became the primary justification for the 2003 invasion of Iraq ; however, American forces found none in Iraq. They found old stockpiles of chemical munitions including sarin and mustard agents , but all were considered to be unusable because of corrosion or degradation. Iraq, however, declared
6394-504: The Cold War , the term "weapons of mass destruction" was primarily a reference to nuclear weapons. At the time, in the West the euphemism " strategic weapons " was used to refer to the American nuclear arsenal. However, there is no precise definition of the "strategic" category, neither considering range nor yield of the nuclear weapon . Subsequent to Operation Opera , the destruction of
6533-533: The Cold War , the term came to refer more to non- conventional weapons . The application of the term to specifically nuclear and radiological weapons is traced by William Safire to the Russian phrase "Оружие массового поражения" – oruzhiye massovogo porazheniya (weapon of mass destruction). William Safire credits James Goodby (of the Brookings Institution ) with tracing what he considers
6672-879: The EU , and the African Union . The Center for the Study of Threat Convergence is funded by the MacArthur Foundation , the Ford Foundation , and the Ploughshares Fund . Created in 1997, the Human Rights and Business Roundtable brings together businesses and human rights organizations to ensure compliance with international standards, particularly in regard to the conduct of security forces in and around industrial operations. It recognizes
6811-622: The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)). An exact use of this term was given in a lecture titled " Atomic Energy as a Contemporary Problem" by J. Robert Oppenheimer . He delivered the lecture to the Foreign Service and the State Department , on 17 September 1947. It is a very far reaching control which would eliminate the rivalry between nations in this field, which would prevent
6950-789: The Niger Delta Region , with a particular emphasis on the Akwa Ibom and Rivers states. The Center for the Study of Threat Convergence explores the linkages between fragile states, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction , and terrorism . CSTC performs ground research in the Black Sea / South Caucasus region , the Tri-border area of Latin American , East and the Horn of Africa , and Southeast Asia . It partners with regional and sub regional organizations like NATO ,
7089-426: The U.S. President , the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency , the U.S. Department of Defense , and the U.S. Government Accountability Office . Other documents expand the definition of WMD to also include radiological or conventional weapons . The U.S. military refers to WMD as: Chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear weapons capable of a high order of destruction or causing mass casualties and exclude
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#17327732750017228-648: The United States and several European states, such as Latvia , Poland , Italy , and Spain . Only a few nations, such as the Scandinavian countries, Iceland , Ireland , Canada , Australia and New Zealand were rated as "Sustainable." The Fragile States Index is subject to criticism, in part, because it takes institutions and data to draw its conclusions, as opposed to the Human Development Index or other more telling signs. The FSI
7367-483: The "Problem Driven Iterative Adaptation (PDIA)", to escape the capability traps. Given that many development initiatives fail to improve performance because they promote isomorphic mimicry , PDIA focuses on solving locally nominated and prioritized performance problems of failed states. It involves pursuing development interventions that engage broad sets of local agents to ensure the reforms are politically supportable and practically implementable. While failed states are
7506-400: The 1990 invasion of Kuwait and 1991 Gulf War , Iraq's nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons programs became a particular concern of the first Bush Administration . Following the war, Bill Clinton and other western politicians and media continued to use the term, usually in reference to ongoing attempts to dismantle Iraq's weapons programs . After the 11 September 2001 attacks and
7645-572: The 21st Century highlights five main points: The Fund for Peace's efforts in United States foreign policy is based on the fear of "spillover" and the influence and multiplication of failed states. The National Dialogue forums were sponsored by the Fund for Peace. The Final Report was funded by the Ford Foundation . Another initiative to promote human rights is the Globalization and Human Rights Series. This consists of publications dedicated to discussing pertinent topics relating to human rights,
7784-533: The African economy will lead to political development and less violence. In reality, these cash contributions do not invest in Africa's growth economically, politically and most of all, socially. James Fearon and David Laitin suggest in "Neotrusteeship and the Problem of Weak States" that the problem of failed states can be addressed through a system of "neotrusteeship", which they compare to "postmodern imperialism". Fearon and Laitin's idea of neotrusteeship involves
7923-471: The Arab League, the United Nations, governments, and human rights organizations. The representatives were faced with the task of determining what steps should be taken to efficiently protect civilians. The conference promoted a sense of international unity by asking the representatives to leave aside their political ideologies and keep the welfare of human beings as their priority. The conference ended with
8062-561: The Cligendael Center for Strategic Studies explains why states that are subject to failure serve as sanctuaries (used to plan, execute, support, and finance activities) for terrorist organizations. When the government does not know about the presence of the organization or if it is not able to weaken or remove the organization, the sanctuary is referred to as a "Terrorist Black Hole". However, next to governmental weakness there needs to be "Terrorist Comparative Advantages" present for
8201-420: The Congo , Haiti , Lebanon , Libya , Mali , Myanmar , Somalia , South Sudan , Sudan , Syria , and Yemen have all been described as failed states. There are concerns that Venezuela may also be on the path to becoming a failed state in the near future. Various metrics have been developed to describe the level of governance of states, with significant variation among authorities regarding
8340-483: The Fund for Peace. The Fragile States Index published its eleventh annual report in 2015, prepared by the Fund for Peace and published by Foreign Policy Magazine . The Index categorizes states in four categories, with variations in each category. The Alert category is in dark red, Warning in orange, Stable in yellow, and Sustainable in green. The FSI total score is out of 120, and in 2015 there were 178 states making
8479-553: The National Dialogue forums. The American Conversation is an effort by the Fund for Peace to encourage ongoing critical thinking in the minds of Americans and their communities. The third component of the Use and Purpose of American Power is the Final Report. The Final Report is a summary of the National Dialogue forums and the ideas and concepts presented at the forums. The Final Report, titled The Use and Purpose of American Power in
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#17327732750018618-530: The Niger Delta region of Nigeria — Bøås and Jennings argue that "the use of the 'failed state' label is inherently political and based primarily on Western perceptions of Western security and interests". They go on to suggest that Western policy-makers attribute the 'failed' label to those states in which 'recession and informalisation of the state is perceived to be a threat to Western interests'. Furthermore, this suggests hypocrisy among Western policy-makers:
8757-1004: The Special Adviser in his responsibilities. The Special Adviser and the Fund for Peace were involved in researching human rights violations, sharing information and giving warnings to the Secretary General and the Security Council on matters of genocide, and making recommendations on courses of action. Originally called the Regional Responses to Internal War Project, the program looks to shed light on regional organizations and their "political will" to maintain peaceful relations. The Peace and Stability Operations Project also serves to form relationships with actors in other sectors, such as scholars, research institutions, journalists, and experts. The Fund for Peace believes that, through these extended relationships,
8896-718: The United Kingdom's Butler Review recognized the "considerable and long-standing academic debate about the proper interpretation of the phrase 'weapons of mass destruction ' ". The committee set out to avoid the general term but when using it, employed the definition of United Nations Security Council Resolution 687 , which defined the systems which Iraq was required to abandon: Chemical weapons expert Gert G. Harigel considers only nuclear weapons true weapons of mass destruction, because "only nuclear weapons are completely indiscriminate by their explosive power, heat radiation and radioactivity, and only they should therefore be called
9035-480: The absence of an effective state, there are basically three possibilities. First, if there has been a civil war and a rebel force has ultimately triumphed, then the vacuum may be filled by the rebellious army and political movement as it establishes control over the state. Second, there may be a patchwork of warlords and armies, with either no real central state (as in Somalia) or only a very weak one. In this situation,
9174-452: The arrest or prosecution of a criminal, the offended state has few options for recourse". A relevant contribution to the field of failed states and its attributes was made by Jack Goldstone in his 2008 paper "Pathways to State Failure". He defines a failed state as one that has lost both its effectiveness and legitimacy. Effectiveness means the capability to carry out state functions such as providing security or levying taxes. Legitimacy means
9313-524: The categorization of states more pragmatic, it often receives much criticism for several reasons: Nonetheless, when discussing failed states it is important to mention the FSI not just for its use by governments, organizations, educators and analysts, but also because it provides a measure of assessment that tries to address the issues that cause threats, both domestically and internationally. The qualitative approach embraces theoretical frameworks. Normally, this type of measurement applies stage models to allow
9452-532: The categorization of states. In three to five stages, researchers show state failure as a process. Notable researchers, inter alia, are Robert I. Rotberg in the Anglo-American and Ulrich Schneckener in the German sphere. Ulrich Schneckener's (2006) stage model defines three core elements, monopoly of violence , legitimacy, and rule of law. The typology is based on the security first logic and thus, shows
9591-536: The challenge is not only to pressure authoritarian state leaders to surrender power but rather to figure out how to regenerate legitimate power in the first place. There are mainly two distinct types of cases, and each of these two types of cases requires specific kinds of strategies for the promotion of good governance: Generally speaking, the order is the most important prerequisite for democracy promotion, which relies heavily on formal democratic mechanisms, particularly elections to promote post-conflict state-building. In
9730-541: The challenges faced, particularly in the extractive industries, in balancing human rights and security. FFP works with various private companies in the oil, mining, agribusiness, renewable energy, and infrastructure sectors in both stable and conflict zones around the world. The Sustainable Development & Security program supports companies in their development of human rights and security policies, conflict and human rights assessments, community relations and stakeholder engagement, and monitoring and reporting mechanisms. FFP
9869-406: The challenges of the three gaps should be identified as failed states but instead presents the framework as an alternative to the state failure concept as a whole. Although Call recognizes that the gap concept in itself has limits since often states face two or more of the gap challenges, his conceptual proposition presents a useful way for more precisely identifying the challenges within a society and
10008-708: The combinations of the two factors (governmental weakness and Terrorist Comparative Advantages) explain what regions terrorists use as sanctuaries. Research by James Piazza of the Pennsylvania State University finds evidence that nations affected by state failure experience and produce more terrorist attacks. Contemporary transnational crimes "take advantage of globalization, trade liberalization and exploding new technologies to perpetrate diverse crimes and to move money, goods, services and people instantaneously for purposes of perpetrating violence for political ends". Contributing to previous research on
10147-412: The concept of state failure through the codification of three "gaps" in resource provision that the state is not able to address when it is in the process of failure: capacity, when state institutions lack the ability to effectively deliver basic goods and services to its population; security, when the state is unable to provide security to its population under the threat of armed groups; and legitimacy when
10286-459: The conflict does not really end, but may wax and wane in a decentralized fashion, as in Afghanistan today. The third possibility is that an international actor or coalition of actors steps in to constitute temporary authority politically and militarily. This may be an individual country, a coalition, an individual country under the thin veneer of a coalition, or the United Nations acting through
10425-587: The context of Somalia 's turmoil after the overthrow of its dictator, Siad Barre , in 1991. The phrase gained prominence during the American-led intervention in Somalia in 1992. It was used to express concerns about the potential collapse of poor states into chaotic anarchy after the end of the Cold War , as highlighted by Robert Kaplan 's depiction of chaos in Liberia and Sierra Leone and his warning of
10564-419: The context of nuclear arms control ; Ronald Reagan used it during the 1986 Reykjavík Summit , when referring to the 1967 Outer Space Treaty . Reagan's successor, George H. W. Bush , used the term in a 1989 speech to the United Nations, primarily in reference to chemical arms. The end of the Cold War reduced U.S. reliance on nuclear weapons as a deterrent, causing it to shift its focus to disarmament. With
10703-537: The course of events by implementing policies and programs. Capability traps close the space for novelty, establishing fixed best-practice agendas as the basis of evaluating failed states. Local agents are therefore excluded from the process of building their own states, implicitly undermining the value-creating ideas of local leaders and front-line workers. Matt, Lant, and Woolcock from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government proposed an approach called
10842-412: The democratic character of a state's institutions as a means of determining its degree of failure. Finally, other scholars focus their argument on the legitimacy of the state, on the nature of the state, on the growth of criminal violence in a state, on the economic extractive institutions, or on the states' capacity to control its territory. Robert H. Bates refers to state failure as the "implosion of
10981-968: The distinction between the psychological and the physical effects of many things currently falling into the WMD category. Gustavo Bell Lemus , the Vice President of Colombia , at 9 July 2001 United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects, quoted the Millennium Report of the UN Secretary-General to the General Assembly , in which Kofi Annan said that small arms could be described as WMD because
11120-423: The earliest known English-language use soon after the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (although it is not quite verbatim): a communique from a 15 November 1945, meeting of Harry Truman , Clement Attlee and Mackenzie King (probably drafted by Vannevar Bush , as Bush claimed in 1970) referred to "weapons adaptable to mass destruction." Safire says Bernard Baruch used that exact phrase in 1946 (in
11259-473: The end of wars. Contrary to European states, however, he also pointed out that most Third World states lacked external threats and had not waged interstate wars, implying that these states are unlikely to take similar steps in the future. Steward and Knaus (2012) tackled the question "Can intervention work?" and concluded that "we can help nations build themselves" by putting an end to war and providing "well-resourced humanitarian interventions". They criticized
11398-499: The failed state is thereafter often used to defend policy interventions by the West. Further, as Chesterman and Ignatieff et al. argue, regarding the duration of international action by developed states and international organizations, a central problem is that a crisis tends to be focused on time, while the most essential work of reframing and building up a state and its institutions takes years or decades. Therefore, effective state-building
11537-414: The famous phrase: "War made the state, and the state made war." Similarly, Herbst (1990) added that a war might be the only chance to strengthen an extraction capability since it forced rulers to risk their political lives for extra revenue and forced subjects to consent to pay more tax. It is also important for state development in that the increased revenue would not return to its original level even after
11676-476: The fatalities they cause "dwarf that of all other weapons systems – and in most years greatly exceed the toll of the atomic bombs that devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki ". An additional condition often implicitly applied to WMD is that the use of the weapons must be strategic. In other words, they would be designed to "have consequences far outweighing the size and effectiveness of the weapons themselves". The strategic nature of WMD also defines their function in
11815-519: The finish line of the Boston Marathon. He was convicted in April 2015. The bombing resulted in three deaths and at least 264 injuries. The development and use of WMD is governed by several international conventions and treaties . Nuclear weapons use the energy inside of an atom's nucleus to create massive explosions. This goal is achieved through nuclear fission and fusion. Nuclear fission
11954-450: The following techniques which led to undermining it: In light of the fact that many of these countries would likely need centuries to reach the state capability of developed countries, they suggested creating "context-specific institutions", promoting "incremental reform process", and setting "realistic expectations" for attaining the goal of substantial development. Foreign aid produces several unintended consequences when used to develop
12093-475: The formal architecture of a UN post-conflict mission. The term "failed state" has faced criticism along two main strands. The first argues that the term lends itself to overgeneralization, by lumping together different governance problems amongst diverse countries, and without accounting for variations of governance within states. The second is concerned with the political application of the term in order to justify military interventions and state-building based on
12232-475: The future war would be much less likely. Weinstein also claims that war leads to the development of strong state institutions. Weinstein borrows from Charles Tilly to make this argument, which states that wars require large expansions in state capabilities, so the states that are more stable and capable will win wars and survive in the international system through a process similar to natural selection. Weinstein uses evidence from Uganda's successful recovery following
12371-571: The government's responsibility. Throughout two years, the National Dialogue forums took place in Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Mexico, Alabama, Idaho, Florida, and California. The second component is the American Conversation. While the National Dialogue forums were designed to spark interest and discussion, the purpose of the American Conversation is an online discussion hosted by Google Groups to continue conversations that began at
12510-470: The grounds that they "cannot [currently] directly injure or kill human beings as efficiently as guns or bombs" or clearly "meet the legal and historical definitions" of WMD. The most widely used definition of "weapons of mass destruction" is that of nuclear , biological , or chemical weapons (NBC) although there is no treaty or customary international law that contains an authoritative definition. Instead, international law has been used with respect to
12649-425: The ideals of justice, environment, peace, and population. The Fragile States Index assesses the pressures experienced by nations based on social, economic, and political indicators such as demographic pressures, refugee flows, uneven economic development or severe economic decline, and human rights, among others. The "Failed States Index" debuted in 2005 with a limited assessment of approximately 75 countries; this
12788-445: The ideas and opinions of other experts and publish them in their issues of Reality Check: Diverse Voices on Internal Conflict . The second initiative is the Use and Purpose of American Power. The goal of this initiative is to promote ongoing dialogue and debate on the role of the United States in the international arena. It does so by asking four questions: The Use and Purpose of American Power also has three main components. The first
12927-557: The impact of failing states, and corruption. Four issues have been published since 2005 in an effort to continue to educate the industries and the public on the harmful effects of failing governments, and the need for the recognition of, and commitment to, human rights. Furthermore, the Fund for Peace is a supporter of the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights , which guides businesses who voluntarily participate on how to align their security practices with human rights considerations. The Voluntary Principles are important because of
13066-458: The incentives of the peacekeepers to exit. Fearon and Laitin believe that multilateral interventions which solve the above four collective action problems will be more effective at rebuilding failed states through neotrusteeship. Jeremy Weinstein disagrees that peacekeeping is necessary to rebuild failed states, arguing that it is often better to allow failed states to recover on their own. Weinstein fears that international intervention may prevent
13205-410: The influence of national authorities. Other factors of perception may be involved. A derived concept of "failed cities" has also been launched, based on the notion that while a state may function in general, polities at the substate level may collapse in terms of infrastructure, economy, and social policy. Certain areas or cities may even fall outside state control, becoming a de facto ungoverned part of
13344-533: The institutional capacity of state. Donors will often delegate aid spending to recipient governments since they do not have the information or capacity to identify who is in the greatest need and how it can be best spent. The downside of this is that it can be captured by recipient governments and diverted either towards self-enrichment of incumbent elites or to establish and maintain clientelist networks to allow them to remain in power—for example, in Kenya, aid allocation
13483-416: The international community can work together to maintain peace in typically violent areas. The Fund for Peace has been successful in advancing the international dialogue on peacekeeping by holding public meetings with international representatives, performing research missions in over thirty-five countries, and holding workshops. By collaborating with actors in other sectors, the Fund for Peace is able to gather
13622-599: The level of democracy such as the Report of Democratic Development in Latin America ( Informe de desarrollo democrático de América Latina ). However, the Fragile States Index has received comparatively much attention since its first publication in 2005. Edited by the magazine Foreign Policy , the ranking examines 178 countries based on analytical research of the Conflict Assessment System Tool (CAST) of
13761-435: The level of political freedom are taken into account". In fact, as the argument goes, "political freedom is shown to explain terrorism, but it does so in a non-monotonic way: countries in some intermediate range of political freedom are shown to be more prone to terrorism than countries with high levels of political freedom or countries with highly authoritarian regimes". While poverty and low levels of political freedom are not
13900-495: The main characteristics of failed states, they are nevertheless important ones. For this reason, Abadie's research represents a powerful critique to the idea that there is a link between state failure and terrorism. This link is also questioned by other scholars, such as Corinne Graff, who argues that 'there is simply no robust empirical relationship between poverty and terrorist attacks'. Moreover, "problems of weakened states and transnational crime create an unholy confluence that
14039-467: The matter, Tiffiany Howard looks at a different dimension of the connection between state failure and terrorism, based on evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa. She argues that "citizens of failed states are attracted to political violence because of the deteriorating conditions within this type of states". Focusing on individual citizens' decision-making patterns, it is suggested that "individuals living in failed states are attracted to political violence because
14178-430: The means of production necessary for physical violence. This means that the state does not require legitimacy for achieving a monopoly on having the means of violence ( de facto ), but will need one if it needs to use it ( de jure ). Typically, the term means that the state has been rendered ineffective and is not able to enforce its laws uniformly or provide basic goods and services to its citizens. The conclusion that
14317-570: The means of transporting or propelling the weapon where such means is a separable and divisible part from the weapon. Also called WMD. This may also refer to nuclear ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles). The significance of the words separable and divisible part of the weapon is that missiles such as the Pershing II and the SCUD are considered weapons of mass destruction, while aircraft capable of carrying bombloads are not. In 2004,
14456-424: The military doctrine of total war as targeting the means a country would use to support and supply its war effort, specifically its population, industry, and natural resources. Within U.S. civil defense organizations, the category is now Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosive (CBRNE), which defines WMD as: (1) Any explosive , incendiary , poison gas , bomb, grenade , or rocket having
14595-446: The monopoly of force is still intact, but the other two areas show serious deficits. Failing states lack the monopoly of force, while the other areas function at least partially. Finally, collapsed or failed states are dominated by parastatal structures characterized by actors trying to create a certain internal order, but the state cannot sufficiently serve the three core elements. Both research approaches show some irregularities. While
14734-659: The new weapons of mass destruction? At the time, nuclear weapons had not been developed fully. Japan conducted research on biological weapons (see Unit 731 ) , and chemical weapons had seen wide battlefield use in World War I . Their use was outlawed by the Geneva Protocol of 1925. Italy used mustard agent against civilians and soldiers in Ethiopia in 1935–36 . Following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that ended World War II and during
14873-511: The overconfidence of policymakers on nation-building by contrasting what they regarded as successful interventions in Bosnia (1995) and Kosovo (1999) with the failed attempt of nation-building in Iraq (2003) and Afghanistan (2001–2021) in which the U.S. lost thousands of lives over ten years and expended more than a trillion dollars without realizing its central objective of nation-building. When
15012-459: The paradox, stating that large US aid attempts in African agriculture have only resulted in further conflict between citizens. Notably, small investments such as grants for schools have proven to decrease violence compared to large investments, which create "incentives to capture economic rents through violence." Furthermore, Binyavanga Wainaina (2009) likens Western aid to colonization, in which countries believe that large cash contributions to spur
15151-407: The policy prescriptions that are more likely to be effective for external and international actors to implement. Further critique of the ways in which the 'failed state' concept has been understood and used to inform national and international policy decisions is brought forth in research by Morten Bøås and Kathleen M. Jennings. Drawing on five case studies — Afghanistan, Somalia, Liberia, Sudan, and
15290-569: The potentially harmful impacts security practices can have when operating in a failed state or conflict zone, but also because the international community is putting increasing emphasis on the rights of individuals. The Fund for Peace does not limit its partnerships to select sectors. The organization has collaborated with Georgetown University 's Center for Peace and Security Studies and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute . Together,
15429-406: The process. Fusion weapons (also known as “thermonuclear” or “hydrogen” weapons) use the fission process to initiate fusion. Fusion weapons use the energy released from a fission explosion to fuse hydrogen isotopes together. The energy released from these weapons creates a fireball, which reaches tens of million degrees. A temperature of this magnitude is similar to the temperature found at center of
15568-727: The quantitative and qualitative approach. Quantitative measurement of state failure means the creation of indexes and rankings are particularly important. However, a number of other indexes are generally used to describe state weakness, often focusing on the developmental level of the state (e.g. the Freedom House Index (FHI), the Human Development Index (HDI), or the World Bank Governance Indicators ). Additionally, regional evaluation might give concrete details about, inter alia,
15707-403: The quantitative approach lacks transparency concerning its indicators and their balancing in the evaluation process of countries, the qualitative approach shows a diversity of different foci. One of the major discrepancies is the question of whether all the stages have to be taken continuously or if a state can skip one phase. Schneckener stresses that his model should actually not be interpreted as
15846-460: The ranking. Initially, the FSI only ranked 75 countries in 2005. The FSI uses two criteria by which a country qualifies to be included in the list: first of all, the country must be a United Nations member state, and secondly, there must be a significant sample size of content and data available for that country to allow for meaningful analysis. There are three groupings: social, economic, and political with overall of twelve indicators. Each indicator
15985-420: The relevance of the monopoly of violence in comparison to the other two while at the same time acting as the precondition for a functioning state. His four statehood types are: (1) consolidated and consolidating states, (2) weak states, (3) failing, and (4) collapsed/failed states. The first type is directed towards functioning states; all core functions of the state are functioning in the long term. In weak states,
16124-428: The same category as chemical and " dirty bomb " radiological weapons, which have limited destructive potential (and close to none, as far as property is concerned), whereas nuclear and biological weapons have the unique ability to kill large numbers of people with very small amounts of material, and thus could be said to belong in a class by themselves. The NBC definition has also been used in official U.S. documents, by
16263-525: The same continent as failed states make eventual resettlement after the war, famine, or political collapse even less probable, as the distance, cost, and inconvenience of returning to home countries increase with distance and language change among refugee families. In Somalia, Afghanistan, and Yemen the reform movements and modernization efforts are weakened when there are no effective refugee resettlement programs. According to U.S. Department of Justice Trial Attorney Dan E. Stigall, "the international community
16402-538: The same forms of perceived dysfunction that lead to some states being labeled as failed are in turn met with apathy or are knowingly expedited in other states where such dysfunction is assessed to be beneficial to Western interests. In fact, "this feature of state functioning is not only accepted, but also to a certain degree facilitated, as it creates an enabling environment for business and international capital. These cases are not branded 'failed states ' ". The measurement methods of state failure are generally divided into
16541-448: The source of numerous refugees, the chaotic emigration allowed by UN regulations and open border policies have contributed to human capital flight , or brain drain. Without sufficient professional and skilled workers, such as doctors, nurses, biologists, engineers, electricians, and so on, the severity of failed states tends to increase, leading to even more emigration. Similarly, policies that do not require third country resettlement on
16680-433: The specific categories of weapons within WMD, and not to WMD as a whole. While nuclear, chemical and biological weapons are regarded as the three major types of WMDs, some analysts have argued that radiological materials as well as missile technology and delivery systems such as aircraft and ballistic missiles could be labeled as WMDs as well. However, there is an argument that nuclear and biological weapons do not belong in
16819-474: The specific level of government control needed to consider a state as failed. In 2023, the Fund for Peace , a think tank, identified twelve countries in its most susceptible categories on the Fragile States Index . Formally designating a state as "failed" can be a controversial decision with significant geopolitical implications. The term "Failed State" originated in the 1990s, particularly in
16958-532: The state are much more likely to occur. Originating in the 1990s, the term was initially applied to characterize the situation in Somalia . The country descended into disorder following a coup that ousted its dictator, Siad Barre , in 1991, leading to internal conflicts among the country's clans . In the early 2020s, Afghanistan , the Central African Republic , the Democratic Republic of
17097-402: The state becomes a failed state . The difficulty of determining whether a government maintains "a monopoly on the legitimate use of force", which includes the problems of the definition of "legitimate", means it is not clear precisely when a state can be said to have "failed". The problem of legitimacy can be solved by understanding what Weber intended by it. Weber explains that only the state has
17236-436: The state failure concept as overly generalized. Call thus asserts that it is often inappropriately applied as a catch-all theory to explain the plight of states that are in fact subject to diverse national contexts and do not possess identical problems. Utilizing such an evaluation to support policy prescriptions, Call posits, is then responsible for poor policy formulation and outcomes. As such, Call's proposed framework develops
17375-472: The state", where the state transforms "into an instrument of predation" and the state effectively loses its monopoly on the means of force. Charles T. Call attempts to abandon the concept of state failure altogether, arguing that it promotes an unclear understanding of what state failure means. Instead, Call advances a "gap framework" as an alternative means of assessing the effectiveness of state administration. This framework builds on his previous criticism of
17514-422: The state. No consistent or quantitative definition of a "failed state" exists; the subjective nature of the indicators that are used to infer state failure have led to an ambiguous understanding of the term. Some scholars focus on the capacity and effectiveness of the government to determine whether or not a state is failed. Other indices such as the Fund for Peace's Fragile States Index employ assessments of
17653-833: The sun, so it shouldn't be any surprise to learn that the sun runs on fusion as well. The only country to have used a nuclear weapon in war is the United States , which dropped two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. At the start of 2023, nine states—the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK, or North Korea) and Israel—together possessed approximately 12 512 nuclear weapons, of which 9576 were considered to be potentially operationally available. An estimated 3844 of these warheads were deployed with operational forces, including about 2000 that were kept in
17792-437: The support of important groups of the population. A state that retains one of these two aspects is not failed as such; however, it is in great danger of failing soon if nothing is done. He identifies five possible pathways to state failure: Larry Diamond, in his 2006 paper "Promoting democracy in post-conflict and failed states", argues that weak and failed states pose distinctive problems for democracy promotion. In these states,
17931-449: The surreptitious arming of one nation against another, which would provide some cushion of time before atomic attack, and presumably therefore before any attack with weapons of mass destruction, and which would go a long way toward removing atomic energy at least as a source of conflict between the powers. The term was also used in the introduction to the hugely influential U.S. government document known as NSC 68 written in 1950. During
18070-464: The system is broken—the state has failed in its duty". This finding is based on empirical evidence using barometer survey data. This individual-level approach, which differs from previous research which has focused on the attractiveness of failed states for terrorists and insurgents finds that "failed states threaten an individual's survival, which ultimately drives them to obtain tangible political and economic resources through other means, which include
18209-438: The term "weapon of mass destruction" on record is by Cosmo Gordon Lang , Archbishop of Canterbury , in 1937 in reference to the bombing of Guernica , Spain: Who can think at this present time without a sickening of the heart of the appalling slaughter, the suffering, the manifold misery brought by war to Spain and to China ? Who can think without horror of what another widespread war would mean, waged as it would be with all
18348-580: The three institutions developed a thesis on the increased participation of regional organizations and their member states in promoting peacekeeping. The Fund for Peace partnered with the Centre for International Governance Innovation in 2007. From September 4–6, thirty participants from varying Middle Eastern countries, as well as Australia, the United States, and Canada, met in Istanbul, Turkey. The participants came from academia, international organizations,
18487-774: The unanimous support of International Humanitarian Law and the Bosphorous Consensus . The Fund for Peace has also partnered with Logos Technologies, the United States Institute of Peace , the United States Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute , the U.S. State Department Office of the Coordinator for Stabilization and Reconstruction , and the United States Army Corps of Engineers to create
18626-683: The uniqueness and specific needs of varying failed states. FFP maintains relationships with the United States Marine Corps and the South Korean government, among others. As the Fund for Peace works in regions prone to genocide, the organization developed a relationship with the Office of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide . The Special Adviser played a role in researching and delivering information to aid
18765-401: The use of political violence". This finding has significant implications for the international community, such as the fact that "this pattern of deprivation makes individuals in these states more susceptible to the influence of internationally sponsored terrorist groups. As a consequence, failed states are breeding grounds for terrorists, who then export their radical ideologies to other parts of
18904-439: The world to create terrorist threats across the globe". The link between state failure (and its characteristics) and terrorism, however, is not unanimously accepted in the scholarly literature. Research by Alberto Abadie, which looks at determinants of terrorism at the country level, suggests that the "terrorist risk is not significantly higher for poorer countries, once the effects of other country-specific characteristics such as
19043-557: Was expanded to 146 countries in 2006, and then to 177 countries the following year. South Sudan was added to the assessment in 2011. In 2014, The Fund for Peace announced that the ranking would be renamed " Fragile States Index", claiming that the controversial term 'failed' had "[become] a distraction away from the point of the Index, which is to encourage discussions that support an increase in human security and improved livelihoods." The Fragile States Index uses color-coded maps, tables, and
19182-481: Was founded in 1957 by Randolph Compton. The organization was created in the memory of Randolph Compton's youngest son, John Parker Compton, who was killed in World War II . At a young age, John Parker wrote an essay, discussing the effects of war and the need for human civilization to embrace other methods of conflict resolution. After John Parker's death, Compton created the Fund for Peace, an organization based on
19321-485: Was indicted and tried for conspiracy to both destroy aircraft and use weapons of mass destruction, among others. The surviving Boston Marathon bombing perpetrator, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev , was charged in June 2013 with the federal offense of "use of a weapon of mass destruction" after he and his brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev allegedly placed crude shrapnel bombs, made from pressure cookers packed with ball bearings and nails, near
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