¿Qué es lo “fallido”? ¿Los Estados del Sur, o la investigación y las políticas de Occidente? Un estudio sobre órdenes Políticos híbridos y los Estados emergentes

This paper critically discusses the discourse on fragile and failing states and reviews current debates about state-building. The authors argue for an alternative conceptualization of states emerging from hybrid political orders. Hybrid political orders combine elements of the introduced Western models of governance and elements stemming from local indigenous traditions and practices. Shortcomings in a conventional example of state-building are identified in relation to East Timor, and are contrasted with successes flowing from more innovative approaches to peacebuilding and state formation in Somaliland and Bougainville. The authors conclude that approaches to conflict transformation, peacebuilding and state formation will only be successful in the long term if they engage with local sources of resilience and legitimacy within communities and non-state customary institutions, and if they seek to forge constructive relationships between communities and governments.