A Failed State and its Problem
Uploaded by neicras on Nov 30, 2011
Choose an example of a failed state and identify the major causes of its problem. How could we solve these problems?
State is one of the core concepts in the study of politics. There are several definitions of state but all of them come to a conclusion that state is an institution trying to put a society in proper order. In other words, a failed state might lead to social disorder within the state and even in the global community. To identify the causes of a failed state, the nature of states would be firstly discussed and the consequences of a failed state would be examined. Moreover, the case of Somalia is chosen as an example and the failure of the country in various aspects and the causes of failure would be studied. Lastly, solutions directed to the causes of the problem would be proposed at the end of the essay.
A state, in the simplest way, can be understood as a governmental structure recognized by the public includes the bureaucracy, the military and the courts and so on. (Heywood, 2007) It is different from a government in the sense that it is permanent as it does not change with a change of governors. A state also refers to an instrument of domination and is a monopoly of ‘legitimate violence’. (Weber, 1946) It is sovereign and enjoys absolute power over any other groups in the territory. There are still many other definitions of a state. Nevertheless, no matter which definition we adopt, the goal of having a form of state is for the good of the public and a state is supposed to reflect the permanent interests of the community.
As state plays an important role politically, a failed state would induce serious negative effect on the country. According to the Foreign Policy (2010), a failed state is defined as a state fails to physically control its territory, loses its legitimate authority to make collective decisions, is unable to provide reasonable public services and interact with other countries as a full member of the international community. An institution with legitimated authority, a state failed to exercise its power might lead to lawlessness. No one observes laws and rules and the society would be highly unstable and unrest. People’s right and property are not protected and the country would have little, or even no, economic growth. A failed state would also affect...