The submitted diploma thesis deals with failed states and tries to find out whether the Republic of Yemen can be classified as a failed state. First of all, the diploma thesis defines the term state and its functions, and then focuses on the terminology of weak statehood that has come into existence in the international politics. The thesis concentrates on the Failed States Index and analyzes its social, political and economic indicators. The theory is later applied on the case of Republic of Yemen.

This work contains 4 main parts. Firstly, it is focused on application of the concept of failed states and the theoretical point of view. Second part offers 4 theoretical principals concerning with the problem o failed states. In the third part it brings an analysis of the situation in Afghanistan by using Failed state Index. The last part offers case study about Czech mission in Afghanistan.

This thesis investigates the failed state label on Lebanon. The thesis explores how Lebanon falls under the paradigm and how Lebanon contradicts, at times, the failed state model with the inclusion of Hizbullah.

abstract: Islamist groups in Somalia define themselves by their opposition. From the pre-Islamist movement of Mohammed Hassan in the nineteenth century to al-Itihaad al-Islaami in the twentieth to al-Shabaab in the twenty-first, Islamism exists as a form of resistance against the dominant power of the era. Furthermore these Islamist groups have all been influenced by the type of state in which they exist, be it colonial, independent, or failed. This work seeks to examine the relationship between the uniquely Somali form of Islamism and the state. Through use of historical records, modern media, and existing scholarship this dissertation will chart the development of Islamism in Somalia from the colonial period to the present and explore the relationship Somali Islamism has with various forms of state. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Religious Studies 2013

This thesis focuses on three state theories that aim to define the structures of the Third World states by the West. The terms of the &lsquo / rentier&rsquo / , &lsquo / failed&rsquo / and &lsquo / rogue&rsquo / states are critically examined in an attempt to understand how they define the difference, how they negate the different, and how they legitimize certain policies towards the different. By concentrating on the liberal theorizing that analyzes the state on the basis of the claimed civil society-state divide, and from an orientalist perspective, this study aims to demonstrate that these state theories refuse the possibility of transformation of those states by their own internal dynamics. It is argued that with the help of such discourses, rather than being simple theoretical constructs these state theories have become functional means to legitimize certain historical practices.

This thesis focuses on the use of the term &lsquo / failed state&rsquo / as a category in the US foreign policy discourse in the post Cold War era. The concept of &lsquo / failed state&rsquo / is critically examined in terms of its methodological and ontological flaws. It is suggested that the primary methodological flaw of the failed state discourse is its atomistic and essentialist approach which describes &lsquo / state failure&rsquo / as an internal problem which needs external solutions. By rejecting the internal/external dichotomy, the dialectical method is offered as an alternative to examine the use of the term in the US foreign policy discourse in the post Cold War era. It is argued here that failed state discourse is used as a means in the justification of an international order based on &lsquo / preemptive strikes&rsquo / and unilateral economic, political and military interventions. Building upon this ideological function of failed state discourse, the current discusssions on state failure is related to contemporary debates on imperialism.

This thesis deals indirectly with the current crisis in Yemen by focusing on a period in the Yemen Arab Republic’s (YAR) history from the increased price of oil in 1973 to the outbreak of the Gulf war in 1990. I present the YAR during this period as a case study in labor exportation through which the state was made more vulnerable and was left unable to cope with the collapse of its remittance system. Labor emigration and remittance receipt prior to the Gulf war, in addition to fueling bureaucratic corruption in the YAR, enabled destructive change within the agricultural sector, inflation, national import dependency, and unsustainable urbanization – these structural weaknesses were temporarily masked by Yemen’s labor exportation and by a sustained flow of remittance funding. In 1990 expatriate worker remittances collapsed abruptly as a source of capital, with over a million Yemenis suddenly repatriated. The cases of Mexican and Filipino national labor emigration illuminate the absence of diversity in Yemenis’ immigration destination and the absence of any central orchestration on behalf of the state, in addition to the inability of remittance money to remain within local communities. The period of labor exportation left Yemen with structural fragilities that continue to be the core conditions gripping what today resembles a failed state. Currently Yemen is home to a complex network of actors in violent competition for central authority – yet any government that comes to exist in Yemen must ultimately consider the YAR’s experience with labor exportation from the early 1970s through 1990 as a basis from which to fully understand the underlying weaknesses of the state.

The goal of this master thesis is a complex description of blood diamonds issues and assessment of existing efforts, specific steps and presented ideas, conceptions and strategies on the ground of Kimberley Process, as well as suggestions of possible solutions and future steps of organizations like Global Witness, Partnership Africa Canada, Human Rights Watch and other interested groups fighting against occurence of illicit diamonds. The thesis is divided into 4 chapters. The first chapter describes characteristics and significance of diamonds. The second chapter focuses on organizations agitating against blood diamonds in the world. The third chapter is subsequently designated for definition and features of the term of failed state, which is often highly connected with the blood diamonds issue. The fourth chapter analyses concrete conflicts or illegal activities in Angola, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Republic of Congo and Zimbabwe.

This master thesis deals with the approaches of international actors, especially UN, EU and USA, to the concept of failed states, which are demonstrated on the illustrative example of a state of this category, i.e. Somalia. We think of failed states as a security threat, with which the international community provisionally cannot deal. The master thesis discusses how the international actors deal with this issue in terms of its solution and how they think of the failed states in terms of sovereignty. On the selected case of Somalia it is subsequently illustrated that approaches of selected international actors are not very heterogeneous. The international community agrees to support the central government, although it is not recognized in the whole territory of the state, and endeavors to rebuild a functional state. Although the state is internally totally dysfunctional, its external sovereignty is still recognized.

Studien undersöker hur olika politiska aktörer uttrycker sig om den svenska statens förmåga att upprätthålla ett våldsmonopol och vad detta kan få för implikationer för Sverige. Studien vilar på Max Webers definition av staten som ett mänskligt samhälle som framgångsrikt hävdar monopolet på det legitima användandet av fysiskt våld inom ett givet territorium. Med denna definition som grund genomförs en diskursanalys av den svenska statens brister i debatten kring ”no-go zoner” i svenska utanförskapsområden. Mer specifikt analyserar uppsatsen ett nationellt och internationellt urval politiska aktörer som i den politiska debatten antingen legitimerar eller de-legitimerar den svenska staten i Webers mening. Utifrån konstruktivistiska antaganden om att statens existens är socialt konstruerad och diskursivt formerad visar resultaten att aktörernas sätt att uttrycka sig i debatten kring svenska utanförskapsområden ger grogrund för ett ifrågasättande av statens existens