Countries can be labeled as failing due to them losing the ability to control the stability and create a secure environment for its local nationals. Many of the countries located in Africa can and have been labeled as failed or failing. Africa is plagued with failing states due to the decolonization of majority of the countries. The “scramble” for Africa caused the continent to be faced with military invasions, diplomatic pressures, and eventually conquest and colonization by European powers (Iweriebor n.d.).
Once decolonization began occurring in the 1960s, African countries began to experience different forms of weakness, such as economic and political weakness (Talton n.d.). The weakness created by the newly granted independence of African countries led to a copious amount of ungoverned spaces, or spaces beyond the reach of the government, within Africa. These ungoverned spaces allowed for a self-governance within the territories located within Africa, which led to non-state actors essentially governing their designated areas. Identifying and resolving regional instability concerns is an important task due to helping to minimize the threat of it spreading to international security concerns.
The purpose of this paper is to examine and understand the characteristics and events that lead to failed states within Africa. Understanding the events that lead to failing states allows readers to understand the impact that failed states in Africa have on regional and international security. Understanding the effects of failing states creates the possibility that failing states can be identified at early stages and eventually prevented from actually occurring. Failed states typically have ungoverned spaces which create a potentially thriving area for non-state actors. By examining these failed states and non-state actors and their effect on the population this can help identify potential issues that may spread to regional and international security concerns.
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When examining the characteristics and events that lead to failing states, it is essential to identify the variables or factors within the research. The independent variable within this research would be countries located on the continent of Africa. Examining the interworking of each country and locating the commonalities will help to identify similar characteristics shared among potentially failing states in Africa.
Government stability is a main factor to consider when researching whether a state has failed. Government stability is “a measure of both of the government’s ability to carry out its declared program(s), and its ability to stay in office (Guide to Data Variables 2018). Internal conflict in combination with ethnic tension and non-state actors can lead to regional instability concerns and international security concerns. Internal conflict is defined as “a measure of political violence in the country and its actual or potential impact on governance” (Guide to Data Variables 2018).
After reviewing the various variables within the research, the following hypothesis will be considered throughout this research project. The hypothesis to be discussed is if a country located in within Africa fails then it will cause instability within the region, and possibly extending to international security.
