ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates that empirical indicators seeking to measure causes or consequences of state failure cannot adequately define the concept. It argues that the failed state' cannot be considered unique to the post-Cold War era, nor is the current failed state phenomenon uniquely threatening when compared with disorder on the periphery in earlier historical periods. The current idea of state failure began to acquire prominence in academic and policy circles from the early 1990s. The institutional approach to state failure sees economic development as the ultimate remedy for state fragility. The formal institutions to be promoted or reconstituted are directed towards economic development and reflect the assumptions of the new institutional' economics (NIE). The chapter concludes that the current failed state phenomenon is a product of the post-Cold War change in international ordering principles that sees universal movement toward liberal-democracy as normative for all states.
