The Difference Between Failed and Criminal States and Why it Matters
By Douglas Farah
In academic and policy circles there is growing concern about the phenomena of failed states, fragile states, grey areas, "black holes" or any number of other names for areas that are not in control of a central government.
As the new Congressional Research Service report on North Korea shows, however, there is another phenomena that is just as troubling but is often lumped in pile of failed states-the state as a functioning criminal enterprise.
These two types of states offer different, though complimentary advantages to terrorist groups, transnational criminal organizations and non-state insurgencies and militias. I have outlined some of these themes in a recent paper for the International Assessment and Strategy Center..
Failed states, according to the Feb. 27 Annual Threat Assessment of the Director of National Intelligence create "terrorist safehavens and ungoverned regions that endanger the international community and its citizens."
That is certainly true, and such spaces present a particular challenge when they offer valuable natural resources. My full blog is here.
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