SOUTHASIA Online

A review of Failed States: A Framework for Rebuilding a Fractured World by Ashraf Ghani and Clare Lockhart

The problems caused by weak and failed states are among the most pressing issues of our time. States in this category suffer from significant governance and economic crises resulting in what the authors term the ‘sovereignty gap.' This gap refers to the disconnect between the assumption that all states are sovereign entities and the inability of many of these states to effectively engage in governance. Governments in most weak and failed states provide citizens with few beneficial services and often act in an exploitative manner. This in turn stymies economic development. The international community has a history of intervening in weak and failed states with the aim of remedying these problems. There are few successes to show for these efforts. The central goal of this book is to assess why past interventions have failed and to provide a new framework for the future.