#see power tuesdays: Mapping fragile states
This week on my blog, I am asking the question: In a networked world where power is ever more diffused, what happens to fragile states? Can one keep them from failing? A first step is to take stock of the magnitude of the problem by asking what fragile states are, and where they are located.
For 11 years, the Fund for Peace has been publishing the Fragile States Index. The Fund for Peace wants to promote sustainable security, the ability of a
state to solve its own problems peacefully without an external military
or administrative presence. The Index is compiled with the help of risk indicators based on freely available press articles and reports around the world.
A quick look at the map reveals that quite a number of states are fragile, and that the consequences of such fragility, for their inhabitants or for their neighbours exclude the option of just shrugging and trying to ignore the problem. But what are some of the tools available to strengthen states, given that our own countries already struggle to implement policies on their own soil?
Tomorrow, on #learn power wednesdays, I will be looking back on our recent experience in state- and nation-building (spoiler alert: not so great) wondering what lies ahead.