Failed and Fragile States

The Failed and Fragile States project examines state fragility using a combination of extensive structural data and dynamic events monitoring to provide an overall picture of a country’s fragility and trend lines. The Fragile States brief provide a comprehensive analysis of the multi-faceted processes related to state fragility in a given country. The indicators that make up the structural data are divided into six clusters: Governance; Economics; Security and Crime; Human Development; Demography; and Environment. The events monitoring is done using a variety of domestic and international sources and is coded using a database specifically created for the project. Scenario generation based on trend lines is an important part of the analysis.

Recent Outreach

• Strategic Foresight and Warning Seminar Series, Zurich ­ Conference on early warning and early response to conflict ­ Presentation of research
• Meeting with Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), London ­ Presentation of research, discussion of potential collaboration
• UBC Conference on Failed and Fragile States, Vancouver ­ Presentation of research
• Conference on the Vulnerability and Resilience of Small Island Developing States, University of Malta ­ Presentation of paper, keynote address
• UNU/WIDER Fragile States Conference, Helsinki ­ Presentation of research
• Meeting with Swiss Development Corporation, Bern ­ Presentation of research and discussion of potential collaboration
• CIDA-sponsored Open Source for Effective Response Workshop, Ottawa ­ Presentation or research, exploration of opportunities for open source collaboration on warning, response, and policy evaluation in the areas of conflict prevention and fragile state policy
• Presentation of Research, ISA, San Francisco