Title_ An Assessment of International Order: Liberal Major Powers and Fragile and Failing States

Author_ John VAN BENTHUYSEN

Pages 37-67

Abstract_ Over the past 70 years the major powers have abandonedinternational anarchy for international order. International order,underwritten by major powers, has largely solved the problems ofinterstate war and conquest but struggles with fragile and failingstates. In 2015 more than 60 million people were displaced byfragile and failing states. This raises questions about how and whymajor powers supply and under-supply elements of internationalorder. When are major powers reliable agents of international orderand can they provide a bulwark against fragile and failing states?This study finds that fragile and failing states are not always theresult of domestic events and politics gone wrong. Fragile andfailing states need to be understood as resulting, in part, from thedegree to which states have or have not been integrated into thesystem of international order by major powers. Successfulintegration into the system of international order requires statebuilding, which is facilitated by reliable access to capital, markets,and security. Importantly, major powers are key gatekeepers ofthese critical state building resources. This makes the absence,presence, and quality of hierarchy relationships between major andminor states central to the study of both state building and fragileand failing states.

Keywords_ fragile states, international order, major powers, relational hierarchy, state building, state failure