The slippery road: the imperative for state formation.

Blind to institutional multiplicity, pressures to "democratize" may have contributed to unleashing forces that led to disintegration, war, or even genocide. Rwanda is a powerful example of the latter. Removing one regime from power, even if it is exclusive, is not always the best advice, particularly when there is no national coalition and organization that can substitute for the toppled one. It has to be kept in mind that the organization of political parties usually does not occur around political programs, but rather on an ethnic basis. This can be further promoted by the pressure to "decentralize," ignoring the extreme decentralization that came with the disintegration of the state. The restoration of central authority, control, and overview would work to create a new elite bargain and centralize patronage. The importance of accelerated economic growth cannot be overestimated. States will remain fragile when they overly depend on Official Developmental Assistance, (in extreme cases ODA equals the GDP, like in the DRC in recent years). A sustainable transformation from a crisis state to a stable state requires a formidable transformation of the economy and society. Agriculture must become much more productive, and manufacturing and processing have to add value, creating jobs and incomes. These are the prerequisites for internal markets to operate in a meaningful way. Without this type of development in the poorest countries of the world, state failure is likely to be around for some time to come.

GABI HESSELBEIN is Research Fellow at the Crisis States Research Centre at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

RELATED ARTICLE: STATES OF FAILURE

This map displays countries color-coded by their Failed State Index. The score is computed from a set of 12 distinct social, economic, and political indicators representing the degree of instability and quality of governance in a society.

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The Fund for Peace