Precipitating state failure: do civil wars and violent non-state actors create failed states?
Abstract
This article examines whether the incidence of civil wars and the presence of violent non-state actors have an effect on state failure. Research on failed states has thus far prioritised armed conflicts as one of the key causes of state failure. This study challenges that claim and posits that civil war incidence has limited impact on the transition from fragility to failure. Global quantitative analysis of state failure processes from 1995 to 2014 shows that although armed conflicts are widespread in failed states, civil violence does not lead to state failure and large numbers of failed states become engulfed by civil war only after the failure occurs. By contrast, this study demonstrates a direct link between the presence of violent non-state actors and state failure.
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There is mixed evidence for civil conflict impacts on the stability and longevity of regimes.
“There is mixed evidence for civil conflict impacts on the stability and longevity of regimes, however.”
From Vicious Circles: Violence, Vulnerability, and Climate Change (2021) · cites this paper as [147]
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- Authors
- Aliyev, H.
- Affiliations
- Metropolitan University Prague (CZ)
- Corresponding author
- Aliyev, Huseyn
- ORCID
- Aliyev, Huseyn
- Venue
- Third World Quarterly
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2017-05-12
- Volume
- 38
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 1973-1989
- ISSN
- 0143-6597 (ISSN-L)
- 1360-2241
- OpenAlex
- W2612858678
- Cited by
- 38
- References
- 59
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 19 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 4
- FWCI
- 18.90
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Third World Quarterly (publishedVersion)
- ENLIGHTEN (Jurnal Bimbingan dan Konseling Islam) (acceptedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung (1)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Political Conflict and Governance
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Peacebuilding and International Security
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Post-Soviet Geopolitical Dynamics
- Keywords
- state failure, failed states, civil war, violent non-state actors, armed conflict, fragile states, state collapse, civil violence
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