Fixing Failed States: A Framework for Rebuilding a Fractured World - Hardcover

Ghani, Ashraf; Lockhart, Clare

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0195342690 ISBN 13: 9780195342697

Publisher: OUP USA, 2008

Synopsis

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.

About this title

About the Author

Ashraf Ghani played a central role in the design and implementation of the post-Taliban settlement in Afghanistan, serving as UN adviser to the Bonn process and as Finance Minister during Afghanistan's Transitional Administration. He has worked at the World Bank and taught at Johns Hopkins and Berkeley universities. He has been nominated for the job of Secretary General of the United Nations and considered for the job of President of the World Bank. He chairs the Institute for State Effectiveness. Clare Lockhart is co-founder and director of the Institute for State Effectiveness, established in 2007 to advise leaders on transformation of countries from instability to stability. From 2001 to 2005, she lived and worked in Afghanistan, first as a member of the UN negotiation team and then advising the Afghan Government, leading design of several national initiatives. She now advises leaders on a range of countries across Asia, Africa and the Americas. She was educated at Oxford, Harvard and is a member of the Bar of England and Wales.

Edition details

• Publisher: OUP USA
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0195342690
• ISBN 13: 9780195342697
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 272