Fixing Failed States: A Framework for Rebuilding a Fractured World

by Ashraf Ghani (Author), Clare Lockhart (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  2008

  $12.72

  Fixing Failed States addresses one of the central issues of our times: the proliferation of failed states across the world and our inability to stabilize them. There are between forty and sixty failed states, and they house one billion people. The world's worst problems - terrorism, drug and human trafficking, absolute poverty, ethnic conflict, disease, genocide - originate in such states, and the international community has devoted billions upon billions of dollars to solving the problem. Yet by and large, the effort has failed. The authors explain the failure stems in part from an outmoded vision of the state system based on the framers of the post-World War II order's vision: relatively independent, unified states that control markets and rely on authoritarianism when necessary. The world we actually live in is far different. Identities and loyalties don't necessarily correspond to traditional nation-states, and nations are far less autonomous than in the past. The task at hand, they argue, is to develop novel strategies informed by the realities of our fully globalized world. International institutions, therefore, should prioritize fostering mutually reinforcing bonds between states, civil societies, and markets. The book is divided into three parts - a diagnosis of the problem, a structure for dealing with it, and a discussion of examples of the new processes at work. Throughout, their own experiences in failed states ranging from Afghanistan to Nepal vividly illustrate the nature of the crisis and what we can do to to effectively improve matters. The book's uniqueness lies in its essential optimism - an optimism that the authors have earned through their own substantial real-world efforts and their acknowledged expertise on the subject. With Fixing Failed States, Ashraf Ghani and Clare Lockhart provide a framework for facing one of the most troublesome issues facing the international community.

• New

  Paperback
  2009

  $17.31

  Today between forty and sixty nations, home to more than one billion people, have either collapsed or are teetering on the brink of failure. The world's worst problems-terrorism, drugs and human trafficking, absolute poverty, ethnic conflict, disease, genocide-originate in such states, and the international community has devoted billions of dollars to solving the problem. Yet by and large the effort has not succeeded. Ashraf Ghani and Clare Lockhart have taken an active part in the effort to save failed states for many years, serving as World Bank officials, as advisers to the UN, and as high-level participants in the new government of Afghanistan. In Fixing Failed States, they describe the issue-vividly and convincingly-offering an on-the-ground picture of why past efforts have not worked and advancing a groundbreaking new solution to this most pressing of global crises. For the paperback edition, they have added a new preface that addresses the continuing crisis in light of ongoing governance problems in weak states like Afghanistan and the global financial recession. As they explain, many of these countries already have the resources they need, if only we knew how to connect them to global knowledge and put them to work in the right way. Their state-building strategy, which assigns responsibility equally among the international community, national leaders, and citizens, maps out a clear path to political and economic stability. The authors provide a practical framework for achieving these ends, supporting their case with first-hand examples of struggling territories such as Afghanistan, Sudan, Kosovo and Nepal as well as the world's success stories-Singapore, Ireland, and even the American South.