engaging fragile states - Woodrow Wilson International Center for ...

In 2009-2010, Pakistan, Yemen, and Haiti each illustrated how fragile, but not
failed, states can suddenly become headline news and require major US attention.
Unfortunately at this time, the US government (USG) is not in an ideal position
to address the threats from failed and fragile states beyond its deep involvement
in Iraq and Afghanistan. Burdened by fighting two wars, in addition to
recovering from an economic recession that has led to incurring huge costs and
budget deficits from domestic programs piling up the national debt, the US is unlikely
to be able to take on further major international commitments. The foreign
policy agenda is already crowded with geopolitical issues—the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict, Iran, North Korea, and US-China relations—and therefore faces the dilemma,
on the one hand, of increasing the risk of new threats from various failing
states, while on the other, increasing the strain on its stretched capabilities by
expending more to address those threats.
Facing these concerns and yet strapped for resources to deal with them, can the
US still take meaningful steps to mitigate the threats arising in the most unstable
areas of the world? Are US policies able to obtain better results within its current
capabilities rather than embarking on ambitious new programs abroad? What
would such a US strategy toward fragile and failed states look like? This report
examines realistic and practical options for the US in reducing state fragility and
failure, while staying largely within existing resource constraints.
4 | Engaging Fragile States:An International Policy Primer