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Fragile states / Comment

Fragile states and the new international disorder

24/09/2007 By Jean-Marc Châtaigner, Leslie Ouarzazi

The concept of the fragile state is a new theme in post-9/11 international relations, one which became a “structuring notion for the OECD and the World Bank’s aid policies in 2005”.

The concept was born from the merger of two fi elds of research and operations: the fi ght against poverty and social inequalities, and international security.

Though originally intended to address diff erent problems, these two approaches nonetheless aim for a common target: strengthening those states which cannot or will not fulfi ll the essential roles of protecting citizens and providing the most basic services.

Since the appearance of Burnside and Dollar’s research in 1997 and 19983, which was largely used and endorsed by the World Bank’s report, “Assessing Aid”4 the doxy of offi cial development assistance (ODA) recommends granting aid primarily to those states characterised as having “good governance”.

Recipient countries must have policies and institutions capable of guaranteeing the eff ective use of aid. Guided by the principles of eff ectiveness and selectiveness, donors, most of which are multilateral institutions, have had a tendency to withdraw from countries whose economic and social policies are judged inadequate.

This paper will highlight the gap between the actual realities of fragile states, their leaders and populations, and the type of support provided by donors.

It will then advocate taking a more integrated and sustainable approach to reform within these states, based on better knowledge of political processes and real concern for rebuilding social capital.

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Keywords

Development Fragile state Political Reform

Bio author: Jean-Marc Châtaigner

Bio author: Leslie Ouarzazi