State fragility is a situation where the state suffers from deficiencies in capacity, legitimacy and/or authority, which are associated with a weak economy and low resilience to shocks.

State fragility can also threaten global security by providing safe havens for terrorist groups and drug and human traffickers, and by increasing the threat of disease pandemics and mass migration.

A new book, ‘State Fragility: case studies and comparisons’, presents case studies of seven countries – Papua New Guinea, Afghanistan, Burundi, Lebanon, Pakistan, Rwanda and Sierra Leone.

The book, edited by me, has just been published by Routledge and you can download it free here (a true bargain considering the recommended hard copy price is $193.40).

The book explores the dimensions of fragility, focusing on state legitimacy, capacity and authority, and resilience to political and economic shocks.

It examines key questions about the nature of state fragility, policies used to mitigate it and the prospects for successful recovery.

It looks at the seven countries within the context of their different circumstances and within broader questions of global security and it identifies the unique factors that have played a part in their current status.

Each case study starts by analysing the context and exploring the key drivers and dominant features of fragility and describes the official strategies adopted to reduce it.

They investigate why particular strategies were selected ahead of other possible approaches, and assess the outcomes and described the lessons learned.

The book considers the dimensions of fragility that can be influenced by policy action. Geography and history, for example, are not particularly amenable to change.

Fragile states emerged as an area of great concern in the 1990s, especially in the fields of security and development.

The case studies demonstrate that resilience can exist at the local level across communities (the situation, for example, in PNG), at the national level (e.g., in Afghanistan), across different provinces (e.g., in Pakistan) and in different sectors of the economy (e.g., in Lebanon).

In so-doing, ‘State Fragility: case studies and comparisons’ demonstrates that a one-size-fits-all approach does not work, even within a particular fragile state.

A more nuanced and flexible approach is imperative, one that is sensitive to institutional, geographical, sectoral and societal needs.

Fragile states can progress to stability (Rwanda), can collapse, as happened in Afghanistan in August last year) or can even remain stable for an extended period, as has been observed in PNG.

In the book’s conclusion, I discuss the key findings and lessons learned from the case studies, and revisit the concept of state fragility.

Based on the evidence presented in the book, I argue that attempts at reducing state fragility need to go beyond a narrow state-centric approach.

Governments need to prioritise nation-building and economic development. As these attempts may work against each other, a thorough understanding is required of the context, and a balance needs to be established between them.

I hope this book, which is available for free download, will contribute to understanding the drivers and consequences of state fragility, and the complex local politics of fragile contexts.

Nematullah Bizhan lectures in public policy at the University of Papua New Guinea as part of the Development Policy Centre’s partnership with the university