When States Fail: Causes and Consequences

Civil wars in failing states have killed more than ten million people since 1990, and hundreds of millions more have lost basic rights. Terrorism has added urgency to the problem. This collection looks at how states come apart and whether their collapse can be prevented.

Robert Rotberg's long opening chapter lays out a theory of state failure and a system for classifying states as strong, weak, failing or collapsed, using political, social and economic measures. The rest of the volume turns to remedies, offering a wide-ranging approach to rebuilding governments.

Fourteen chapters by academics and practitioners organize a scattered field of research, provide empirical accounts, and make policy recommendations. The book is divided into two parts: one on the causes and signs of failure, and one on preventing collapse and rebuilding states that have already failed. Topics include restarting economies, overhauling legal systems, holding elections, disarming former fighters and strengthening civil society.

Every essay was written for this volume. Alongside Rotberg, the contributors are David Carment, Christopher Clapham, Nat J. Colletta, Jeffrey Herbst, Nelson Kasfir, Michael T. Klare, Markus Kostner, Terrence Lyons, Jens Meierhenrich, Daniel N. Posner, Susan Rose-Ackerman, Donald R. Snodgrass, Nicolas van de Walle, Jennifer A. Widner and Ingo Wiederhofer.