State Weakness and Violent Conflict

Running head: STATE WEAKNESS AND VIOLENT CONFLICT
STATE WEAKNESS IS A CORE CAUSE OF VIOLENT CONFLICT
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1STATE WEAKNESS AND VIOLENT CONFLICT
Introduction
As opined by Fukuyama (2017), the political climate of the present-day world and
also the different nation-states are being dominated by large number of political conflicts,
violent activities and others which greatly threaten the stability as well as the security of these
nation-states. Ray and Esteban (2017) are of the viewpoint that these violent conflicts not
only affect the security or the stability of the nation-states but at the same time greatly affect
the long-term growth or development of the same as well. More importantly, it is seen that
there are various factors which have directly contributed towards the large number of violent
conflicts that the different nation-states are presently facing like the inherent weakness of the
nations, the inefficiency of the governmental or the political systems of these nations, the
inadequate growth opportunities which are being offered to the citizens of these nations, the
ineffective fulfilment of the basic psychosocial needs of citizens and others (Aliyev 2016).
Furthermore, it is seen that one of the most adverse effects of these factors is that they have
not only enhanced the dissatisfaction level of the citizens but often propels these individuals
to resort to the different kinds of terrorist or violent activities that had weakened these states
even further (Paine 2016). The resultant effect of this is that these nations have to take the
help of different international bodies like United Nations and also the first world nations like
USA, UK, Canada, Australia and others for the mitigation of the issues faced by them
(Bretthauer 2015).
The topic under discussion here, that is, “State weakness is a core cause of violent
conflict” is an important one because of the large number of terrorist or violent incidents that
the different nations, especially the third world nations of the world are presently facing.
Needless to say, these terrorist or violent activities not only affect the stability or the security
of the national government or the states but at the same time affect the lives of the common
people of these nation-states as well. This is one of the major reasons why this topic had been

2STATE WEAKNESS AND VIOLENT CONFLICT
selected for the paper. This essay will explore the fact that state weakness is one of the major
reasons for the different kinds of violent conflicts that the contemporary nations are presently
facing in the particular context of the condition of Iraq before 2003 and after the same year.
This essay through the usage of the concepts of state weakness, limited statehood, state
building and others will show state weakness is one of the major factors which gives rise to
violent conflicts in the nations. The researcher for the attainment of this end has taken the
help of different peer-reviewed articles and other secondary sources and also used the case
study of the nation of Iraq to elucidate the point.
Theory and case study analysis
Cederman and Vogt (2017) have articulated the viewpoint that the construct of state
can be defined as a political organisation with a centralised governmental system which tries
to maintain its hold within a particular geographical area or location through the usage of
military or other kinds of forces. As opined by Porto and Alden (2016), the origin of the
concept of state dates back to more than 5,500 years back during the time of the ancient
period when different kinds of states were being formed for security purposes so that the
people who were a part of the concerned state could have security from the threat posed by
the other adjoining states. However, in the present times it is seen that the notion of state had
undergone a substantial amount of change and this can be attributed not only to the changing
or the evolving political system of the world bur at the same time to reasons which propel the
individuals to form a state or for that matter be a part of the same time (Pospisil and Kühn
2016). For example, in the present times along with the security factor there are others as well
like the fulfilment of basic psychosocial needs of the individuals, the suitable political climate
these nations or states that they offer to the individuals for the pursuit of their life goals and
others (Kahl 2018).

3STATE WEAKNESS AND VIOLENT CONFLICT
The notion of state had not only undergone a substantial amount of change over the
years but at the same time had been defined in different ways by diverse individuals and
theorists. For example, Karl Marx, the originator of the concept of Marxism describes state as
a coercive unit which is meant for the extraction of the maximum amount of benefit from its
citizens and thereby it only tries to fulfil the aspirations or the goals of a few individuals of
the state rather than the majority of its people (Rotberg 2004). In the light of this concept, the
idea that the different nations or the states should focus on the effective fulfilment of the
diverse needs or the requirements of its citizens and thereby should try to provide the
maximum amount of benefit to them had gained popularity in the present times (Braithwaite,
Dasandi and Hudson 2016). One of the most important ways through which the different
nations or the states can attain this particular objective or goal is to formulate an effective as
well as strong national government. The primary purpose for the formulation of a strong as
well as centralised national government is not only to ensure the fact that the citizens have
access to adequate rights or opportunities which will enable them to maximise their potentials
but at the same time to ensure the security or the stability of the concerned nation or state as
well (Koehler and Zürcher 2018). Thus, it can be said that a strong as well as centralised
national government is one of the key requirements of the modern-day nations or states on
the basis of which the stability as well as the security of the concerned nations greatly
depends.
The nation of Iraq is an important one in this regard since the nation in a succinct
manner highlights the concept of state, state weakness, limited statehood and other important
concepts which are being used for the analysis of the factors that lead to the failure of the
states and also the rise of violent conflicts. For example, it is seen that the history of the
concerned nation can be segregated into two sections, namely, one before the year 2003 and
one after the year 2003 or particularly the removal of Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-