The Decay of States
 

I was searching for Harvey Kline's State Building and Conflict Resolution in Colombia, 1986-1994 and stumbled across this draft: The Decay of States, by Robert I. Rotberg. Is there an official definition of the stages of failure outlined in this chapter?

Wow. Good question. Somewhere back in the fog of academia I remember there being categories of states as they devolve toward failure, but it may take me a while to find a ref. This hints at it: http://www.disinfopedia.org/wiki.pht...e=Failed_state

see also: http://www.ippu.purdue.edu/failed_st...rs/janzen.html

Put on your reading pants:
http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/inscr/stfai...rt%20Final.pdf
and http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/inscr/stfail/sfdata.htm

Sure would be interesting to see how leading indicators of insurgencies mesh with the indicators of a faild state and what that means for people who might find themselves in either place.

You're thinking along the same lines that I was when I asked the question. Thanks for the links. Reading pants on.

I'm going to leave this alone, for now. ;)

I knew I should have edited that out. lol

Jimbo,

Have you read Engaging Failed States, by Chester A Crocker, in the Sep/Oct 2003 issue of FOREIGN AFFAIRS?

I have that issue, but have not read it yet. I have ssen Crocker speak a few times, once to a class I was taking. What do you thnk of the article?

I've only read it once, so need to read it again, but it seems to pull together a lot of what we've been discussing re: failing states and all of their attendant issues. He discusses the dangers of failed states, makes a point that Nation Building and building/rebuilding States are two very different things, and then goes on to address the different types of failed states and what he thinks we should and should not do about them.

I need to read it again and think about his recommendations some more.

I hadn't heard of Crocker, so wasn't sure of his background.