IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/prodev/v12y2012i2-3p99-111.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Rethinking responses to state failure, with special reference to Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Brennan M. Kraxberger

Abstract

State failure is both a key cause and symptom of underdevelopment in Africa. This article provides a geopolitical perspective on the reasons for state failure in Africa, and offers the following solutions to dealing with this phenomenon. First, local and external actors should prioritize state building and order over quick democratization. Second, in rare cases, the principle of national sovereignty may be overridden in the interests of security and development. Third, in very carefully selected cases, international boundaries may need to be redrawn.

Suggested Citation

  • Brennan M. Kraxberger, 2012. "Rethinking responses to state failure, with special reference to Africa," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 12(2-3), pages 99-111, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:prodev:v:12:y:2012:i:2-3:p:99-111
    DOI: 10.1177/146499341101200302
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/146499341101200302
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/146499341101200302?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ken Menkhaus, 2003. "State collapse in Somalia: second thoughts," Review of African Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(97), pages 405-422, September.
    2. Ian Bannon & Paul Collier, 2003. "Natural Resources and Violent Conflict : Options and Actions," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 15047, April.
    3. Christopher Clapham, 2002. "The Challenge to the State in a Globalized World," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 33(5), pages 775-795, November.
    4. James C. Murdoch & Todd Sandler, 2002. "Economic Growth, Civil Wars, and Spatial Spillovers," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 46(1), pages 91-110, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Saakshi Jha & Sunny Bhushan & Nupur Nirola, 2024. "Is geopolitical risk always detrimental to economic growth?," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 1-31, April.
    2. Chang Woon Nam & Jan Schumacher, 2014. "Dynamics and Time Frameof Post War Recovery Required for Compensating Civil War Economic Losses," CESifo Forum, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 15(03), pages 79-87, August.
    3. Atukwatse Judith & Dr. Ogbona Chidiebere, 2022. "Land Allocation and Conflicts among Refugees and Host Communities, A case of Nakivale and Oruchinga Refugee Settlements in Western Uganda," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 6(12), pages 132-138, December.
    4. Andrea Crippa & Giorgio d’Agostino & John Paul Dunne & Luca Pieroni, 2025. "Conflict as a cause of migration," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 77(2), pages 596-618.
    5. World Bank, 2005. "Conflict in Somalia : Drivers and Dynamics," World Bank Publications - Reports 8476, The World Bank Group.
    6. Ngoasong, Michael Zisuh, 2014. "How international oil and gas companies respond to local content policies in petroleum-producing developing countries: A narrative enquiry," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 471-479.
    7. Samer Matta & Michael Bleaney & Simon Appleton, 2022. "The economic impact of political instability and mass civil protest," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(1), pages 253-270, March.
    8. Phoebe W. Ishak & Mohammad Reza Farzanegan, 2022. "Oil price shocks, protest, and the shadow economy: Is there a mitigation effect?," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(2), pages 298-321, July.
    9. Ang, James B. & Gupta, Satyendra Kumar, 2018. "Agricultural yield and conflict," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 397-417.
    10. Mahmoud Arayssi & Ali Fakih & Nathir Haimoun, 2019. "Did the Arab Spring reduce MENA countries’ growth?," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(19), pages 1579-1585, November.
    11. Andres F. Jola-Sanchez & Juan Camilo Serpa, 2021. "Inventory in Times of War," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(10), pages 6457-6479, October.
    12. G. Jones & T. Kane, 2012. "U.S. Troops and Foreign Economic Growth," Defence and Peace Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(3), pages 225-249, June.
    13. Hany Abdel-Latif & Tapas Mishra & Anita Staneva, 2019. "Arab Countries between Winter and Spring: Where Democracy Shock Goes Next!," Economies, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-19, March.
    14. Naif Alsagr & Stefan F. Van Hemmen Almazor, 2020. "Oil Rent, Geopolitical Risk and Banking Sector Performance," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 10(5), pages 305-314.
    15. Arne Schollaert & Dirk Van de gaer, 2008. "Boycotts, Power Politics, or Trust Building: How to Prevent Conflict?," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 164(2), pages 356-379, June.
    16. Banao, Fawzi, 2025. "Illicit Natural Resource Trade and Security: Does Gold customs fraud Expand or Undermine Military Spending in Africa?," EconStor Preprints 315363, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    17. José Garcia Montalvo & Marta Reynal-Querol, 2002. "Why ethnic fractionalization? Polarization, ethnic conflict and growth," Economics Working Papers 660, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, revised Sep 2002.
    18. Kadagde Dalam Debonheur & Désiré Avom & Idrissa Ouedraogo, 2024. "The effect of natural resources rents on human development in selected African countries," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 48(3), pages 803-837, August.
    19. Mojanoski Goran & Bucevska Vesna, 2022. "Event study on the reaction of the Balkan stock markets to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine," Croatian Review of Economic, Business and Social Statistics, Sciendo, vol. 8(2), pages 18-27, December.
    20. BARRIOS, Salvador & BERTINELLI, Luisito & STROBL, Eric, 2003. "Dry times in Africa: Rainfall and Africa's growth performance," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2003061, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:prodev:v:12:y:2012:i:2-3:p:99-111. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.