A fragile concept : donors and the fragile states agenda
Document type: article
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Abstract:
The concept of fragile states seeks to marry development and security issues. But it has led to a variety of fragile state agendas of international donors, and a lack of consensus on priorities and strategies. The term has been criticized for being too vague, as there is no consensus about how to define fragility, how to measure it, what strategies can be pursued to reduce it, or which countries should be included on the list of fragile states. This lack of agreement creates problems not only between donor countries and international organizations, but also among ministries within the same country. The term can be used, though, as a generic concept which enables policy makers to understand and analyze in a general way the relationship between instability, institutions (including the state) and development, and which helps them in formulating coherent policies.
Authors:
Borgh, C. van der
Category:
Policy
End Page:
15
Serial number:
9
ISSN:
1874-2033
Journal:
The Broker
Keywords:
political conditions
,
governance
,
human security
,
development policy
Language:
eng
Organization:
The Broker
Year:
2008
Right:
© 2008 IDP. This article has been licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported license.
Subject:
Social and Political Change
Start Page:
12
Title:
A fragile concept : donors and the fragile states agenda