Fragile States in the Americas
Contributions by Marlon Anatol, Emily D. Bello-Pardo, Adriana Beltrán, Marten Brienen, Ted Galen Carpenter, Lucía Dammert, Jean-Claude Garcia-Zamor, Eric Golnick, Adam Iscacson, Hanna S. Kassab, Mark Kirton, Paul Rexton Kan, Bradford R. McGuinn, Randy Pestana, Christa L. Remington, Jonathan D. Rosen, John Twichell, Dianne Williams, Christine Zaino, Roberto Zepeda Martínez Edited by Jonathan D. Rosen, Hanna S. Kassab
Not available to order
Publication date:
07 December 2016Length of book:
376 pagesPublisher
Lexington BooksISBN-13: 9781498543576
The Americas face many security challenges, including drug trafficking, organized crime, guerrilla movements, terrorism, and environmental challenges. Experts have long debated whether some countries in the region can be classified as failed states. While various states in the Americas have been labeled as failed states, calling a country a failed state is quite controversial and requires a precise definition of what constitutes a failed state. This book instead discusses fragile states in the Americas. Fragile states are weak states that are fertile grounds for organized crime groups and illegal actors as such groups are able to infiltrate the state apparatus through corruption. The goal of this book is to examine fragile states in the region and the major security challenges that these states face. The cause of state fragility is different for various states.
Theoretically, the work will conceptualize the meaning of fragility as it relates to state survival and autonomy. Empirically, the book focuses on contemporary threats to the survival of fragile states in the Americas. The book explains and analyzes the main political, security, and economic challenges of these states. It employs a wide array of cases that delve into the security and economic threats and priorities of states in the Americas.
Theoretically, the work will conceptualize the meaning of fragility as it relates to state survival and autonomy. Empirically, the book focuses on contemporary threats to the survival of fragile states in the Americas. The book explains and analyzes the main political, security, and economic challenges of these states. It employs a wide array of cases that delve into the security and economic threats and priorities of states in the Americas.
In a larger regional context of historically unprecedented levels of electoral democracy and more than a decade of sustained economic growth, this volume of original contributions serves as a cautionary tale of the multiple challenges still facing many countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. With impressive sets of data-based country-level research, contributors analyze distressingly high levels of criminal violence, drug trafficking, and corruption in a context of ongoing impunity fostered by weak institutions and leaders. In addition, analyses of recent U.S. policy make a compelling case that approaches have either failed to address the problems these beleaguered democracies are facing or have actually made them worse. A must-read for scholars and policy makers alike.