Like most of International political terms, the concept “Failed Countries” came from western countries, which reflect the western political culture and value judgment. This concept raised in the late Cold War has close relationship with western countries especially America’s Strategic Transformation. It has deeply internal connecting link with America’s New-Interventionism. But, it doesn’t mean this topic is just a false proposition. From 1990s the Crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Conflicts in Somalia, and the “9.11” case in 2001, such a series of tragedies has indicated that, the Failed Countries concept has become an important, troubled and urgent problem which needs to be dealt with soon.
In fact, Failed Countries isn’t that kind of new concept, but it is also a platitude like many others terminology, that it has no united, and confirmed definition. One group of scholars start from a country whether it is able to fulfill internally basic functions, and recognize those who can’t fulfill basic functions, and can’t provide basic national service as failed countries. For example, the American famous researcher Ms, Susan Rice indicates that, Failed Countries are those whose central governments can’t effectively control multiple important components of their territories, and can’t provide necessary, critical national service, because of internal or international conflict, governance in impotence, and states collapsing, like Somalia, Sudan, and Democratic Republic of Congo. Other researchers define those Failed Countries from whether a country has fulfilled both its internal or international functions and duty. For example, Research Institute from Holland and Spain indicated in their report that, “the state machine can’t effectively monopolize the use of military force in territory, lack of effective judicial system to maintain the rule of law, lack of effective, valid legal instrument, not able and not willing to fulfill international duty, not able to stop all kinds of transnational economic crimes, and not able to stop or protect own territory from becoming a base to use violence to other countries.” American Think Bank, the Fund for Peace, cooperating with the magazine “Foreign Policy” research group, expand the definition and indicate all countries that are undergoing revolution war, ethnic war or even genocide, critical, violent regime alternation, and political revenge or massacre.
Anyway, the specific characteristics for Failed Countries include the increasing of criminal violence and political violence; not able to maintain control of territory; the hostility or conflict between ethnic, religions, languages, and cultures; civil war break up; using violence against own territorial people; weak political or economic system; institution, infrastructures are old enough and can’t fulfill the basic need or provide the necessary service; can’t collect tax without violence included; full of corruption; collapse of the health and medical care system; high death rate of baby and decreased average lifetime of population; schools can’t operate; GDP per person decrease day by day while currency inflation increase; basic food system collapse and citizens are suffering from hunger. Even more, the country’s basic legitimacy is under stronger and stronger attack; citizens’ sense of political community is losing and become desperate; countries fall into anarchy and terrorists rage through the territory.
So, above all the characteristics concluded by scholars, I could say Failed Countries are exactly those “who can’t provide citizens basic security and benefits, and can’t fulfill the basic international duty”, and they have such common, directive characteristics. According these standard, Somalia, Angola, Burundi, DR of Congo, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Sudan, and current Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya could all be concluded as Failed Countries.
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