Capabilities, International Order and Risk: State Failure and Governance Intervention in Theory and History

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Author(s)
Primary Supervisor
Sharman, Jason
Other Supervisors
Weller, Patrick
Year published
2010
Metadata
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This study examines the phenomenon of “failed” states and governance intervention in comparative historical and international systemic context. The dissertation argues that state failure is a condition partly constructed by the leading actors of international society. The study advances a three-part framework for analysis to understand how leading states and their close allies interpret what constitutes a state failure and how an interventionist policy response is formulated. Interpretations of state failure and modes of governance intervention are based on the interplay of transnational disorder with the (1) distribution ...
View more >This study examines the phenomenon of “failed” states and governance intervention in comparative historical and international systemic context. The dissertation argues that state failure is a condition partly constructed by the leading actors of international society. The study advances a three-part framework for analysis to understand how leading states and their close allies interpret what constitutes a state failure and how an interventionist policy response is formulated. Interpretations of state failure and modes of governance intervention are based on the interplay of transnational disorder with the (1) distribution of capabilities in the international system, the (2) pattern of order in the international society, and the (3) sensitivity of the domestic polities of leading actors to risk. This framework for analysis is applied to three qualitative case studies of state “failure” and “governance” intervention selected on system polarity: the 1882 British occupation of Egypt; the United States combat intervention in South Vietnam, 1965; and Australia’s Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) in 2003.
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View more >This study examines the phenomenon of “failed” states and governance intervention in comparative historical and international systemic context. The dissertation argues that state failure is a condition partly constructed by the leading actors of international society. The study advances a three-part framework for analysis to understand how leading states and their close allies interpret what constitutes a state failure and how an interventionist policy response is formulated. Interpretations of state failure and modes of governance intervention are based on the interplay of transnational disorder with the (1) distribution of capabilities in the international system, the (2) pattern of order in the international society, and the (3) sensitivity of the domestic polities of leading actors to risk. This framework for analysis is applied to three qualitative case studies of state “failure” and “governance” intervention selected on system polarity: the 1882 British occupation of Egypt; the United States combat intervention in South Vietnam, 1965; and Australia’s Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) in 2003.
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Thesis Type
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Degree Program
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School
Centre for Governance and Public Policy
Copyright Statement
The author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise.
Item Access Status
Public
Subject
State failure
Governance intervention