Is the phenomenon of state failure better understood through a focus on the regional context? To what extent may studies of regional security benefit from a focus on the capacities and vulnerabilities of the states involved? This title addresses these questions.

Contests to reorganize the international system after the Cold War agree on the security threat of failed states: this book asks why.

This ... edition ... presents an overview of American foreign policy. Prior to September 11, 2001, the debate over the future of American foreign policy proceeded at a measured pace since few pressing threats to American national security seemed to exist ... In looking at the challenges facing American foreign policy today it is also important that we keep in mind that the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 and the Iraq War are not the only matters of concern to the United States. Other important foreign policy issues remain. For this reason we continue to examine a broad range of issues confronting American foreign policy in this volume.-To the reader.

State collapse is one of the major threats to peace, stability, and economic development in Sub-Sahara Africa today. In a collapsed state the regime finally wears out its ability to satisfy the demands of the various groups in society, fails to govern and to keep the state together. The collapse is marked by the loss of control over political and economic space. A collapsed state can no longer perform its basic security and development functions and has no effective control over its territory and borders. Major challenges confront efforts to avoid collapsed states drawing other countries into a wider conflict and to create structures and favorable conditions to lead to national reconciliation and the reconstruction of a state that has collapsed. The Cornell Institute for African Development called a symposium entitled 'Failed and failing states in Africa: lessons from Darfur and beyond' to address these critical issues at the Institute for African Development, Cornell University April 18-19, 2008. Key contributions at the symposium are brought together in this volume. Taken together these essays represent a significant discussion on the challenges presented by the presence of failed and failing states within Africa