A failed state is never able to sustain itself as a members of the international community (Helman & Rathner,1993).Rotberg (2002)

Introduction

A failed state is never able to sustain itself as a members of the international community (Helman & Rathner,1993).Rotberg (2002) pointed out that state failure can occur in various dimensions. These dimensions include security, political representation, economic prosperity as well as the distribution of income (Rotberg,2002,p.85).His argument is that nations that failure of states occurs as a result of their failure to deliver positive political gains to their citizens. These governments therefore end up losing their legitimacy and amidst the growing citizens plurality , they become illegitimate. Rotberg further pointed out that the collapsed state/ failed state marks the final stage of a nation’s failure (he gave Somalia as an example).The failure can occur simultaneously on all dimensions.

The security concerns due to a failed state

The security risks and threats posed by a failed state can be shown to occur at different levels. These threats to security can be noted at local, regional and international levels. The international studies of states that are fragile are usually aimed at the examination of the potential conflict in these states. This is due to the effects that these stability concerns have on the international systems and relations. This is to say that the poor state of security in fragile states is of concern to the international community due to the security threat that they pose to other states. Carment et. al. (2010) pointed out that the interest of the  citizens living in the fragile states is never of primary concern but the effect that the threats pose to the international community. Hededam, Van Der Aa Kühle and Olsen (2010) pointed out that the study of the fragile states should contain an analysis of the threats that they pose to the international community as well as to the domestic population and interests.

Domestic (internal) security concerns in a failed state

The concept of security to humans entails a consideration of all the things that poses direct and indirect risks to citizens of a state. Mortsensen (1998) pointed out that security is the process  through which humans pursue freedom from all forms of threat. Tilly (1975) argued that the level of security in any given society can be gauged through the accumulations well as the concentration of all forms of violence.The accumulation of a violence denotes the amount of violence that exists in the society while the concentration of the same refers to control of violence is distributed in the society. In a failed state, the citizens lack capacity and therefore they end up lacking the basic security. They also lack the necessary governance structures and this results in the inefficiency as well as the inequitable wealth distribution. The citizens also lack control over the rampant violence in their territories. This results in the  weakening of the state as a result of too much divisions. In order to bring peace and order (Law) to these failed states, it is necessary to instill peace through the control of the violence (Rubin,2008). Several variables are important in ensuring that there is security. Things such as resources are crucial.

Failed states and international security

Newman (2009) pointed out that there are several security pathologies that have been identified to occur due to failed states. These have profound effect on global peace and security. These situations usually involve the occurrence of violent conflict as either a cause or a dire consequence of a state failure or the weakness of a state. The outcome is negative transnational effects. These include migration flows of citizens (Collins,2007) that can ultimately lead to the rise as well as the spread of insurgency that can end up threatening regional and international stability on the basis of conflicts with neighboring and interested states. Example being the forcible displacement of Rwandans from the Uganda territory . This lead to the formation of the Rwandan Patriotic Front that engaged in an armed conflict with the Rwandan government  in the 1980s and the 1990s.

Failed states have also been pointed out by Newman (2009) to be vulnerable to various forms of illegal smuggling and trafficking. These involves trafficking of  small arms as well as light weaponry via the resulting porous boarders. This is a credible source of regional insecurity. They can also be used as drug trafficking hubs hence leading to social problems on an international scale. The weapons that were trafficked across the Balkans between  Pakistan and Afghanistan in 1990s and caused a lot of regional  and international insecurity (Glenny,1996).This is indicative of the fact that weak borders facilitate the flow of illegal  and dangerous cargo such weapons and drugs that lead to further insurgency  as well as conflicts across the world. Unmanned territorial waters have also been shown to harbor piracy such as in Somalia. This leads to international insecurity since the pirates capture and demand ransoms from citizens of different nations and use the money to fund their terrorist activities in their respective terror organizations such as Al-Qaeda (Luft and Korin,2004).Failed states have also been linked to the proliferation of WMD.

Failed states have also been shown to host a variety of  war economies. This leads to illegal commercial networks as well as activities that depend on the environment in which there is no rule of law. Example is the growth of Coca in Afghanistan to be use din making cocaine, an international illegal drug.As Paul Collier pointed out, 95% of the global hard drug production takes place in the conflict-prone states (Newman,1999).Example is the fact that a large amount of Cocaine and Heroin  are from Afghanistan and Columbia. The production of these drugs is linked to the absence of a central government to control the regions. In Somalia, lawlessness has lead to piracy.

Failed states have also been noted to have an adverse effect on the global natural environment (Newnam,1999).The effects are transnational. This is caused by the lack of effective regulations to be used for governing the terrible environmental degradation. E.............