Future Watch, November 2005: Fragile States: A Strategy for Engagement

Fragile states—those countries and societies dangerously close to humanitarian, economic, or political collapse—are threatening security across the planet. The threat of these states exceeeds traditional international response capacities and redefines issues of sovereignty. Fragile states transcend traditional realms of development, defense, and diplomacy.  In an effort to establish a new framework with which to engage these complex issues, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) created the “Fragile States Strategy.”