When Has A State Failed?

Historians, like our first Prime Minister, Dr Eric Williams, have been acutely aware of this. Indeed, in the closing sentences of The History of the People of Trinidad and Tobago, written for Independence, Dr. Williams wrote, "On August 31, 1962, a country will be free, a miniature state will be established, but a society and a nation will not have been formed. After August 31, 1962 the people of Trinidad and Tobago will face the fiercest test in their history They may fail. Others more important and better endowed than they have failed conspicuously." Some colonially-created territories and metropoles did not sever relationships. For instance, the Kingdom of the Netherlands is comprised of three countries: Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, and Aruba. Except for defence, foreign affairs, citizenship, and extradition, each territory is completely self-governing, with their own constitution, government, laws, and currency. In France, former colonies became incorporated into France like any other administrative department, with colonials becoming full citizens in an expanded French Republic. For the vast majority of colonies that became independent states, perhaps enough time has passed to judge whether the "independence experiments" have succeeded or failed. But how do we define state failure? I think most would accept that if a state cannot support itself or run its own affairs, when it needs the help of others for its very survival, then the state has failed. Today, we find many independent states that cannot sustain themselves by their own production, will collapse without imports, and their foreign exchange comes from aid, customs duties, or remittances. For instance, in Jamaica's private transfers (that is, remittances from Jamaicans abroad) are recorded at US$1,728.6 million in 2004. This is more than Jamaica's gross earnings from the export of goods, including bauxite (US$1,608.4 million), and more than its receipts from tourism (US$1,438.0 million). Without remittances, Jamaica's current account balance would deteriorate from a deficit of US$502.6 million to US$2,231.2 million. On a per capita basis, Jamaica is the second largest recipient of remittances in the world. There are other ways economies fail. In Haiti, the unemployment figure for 1999 is a mind-boggling 70 per cent. What this means, in essence, is that the formal economy has collapsed. An informal economy sustains Haiti. This raises some interesting questions. For instance, does a failed economy necessarily mean a failed state? Is there a difference between a failed state and a failed society? When people speak failed state, they most often mean failure of state institutions, such as Parliament, schools, police, public utilities, health facilities, etc. A failed economy we can define as an economy that cannot sustain itself materially. A failed society is one in which social order and conventional social relations have collapsed. And a failed administration occurs when a ruling party has totally lost control of the country. Theoretically, it may be possible to have a failed state but not a failed society (as in some areas of Asia, Africa, and the Pacific, where societies have lived without states for thousands of years). Or, one can have a failed economy but not a failed state (like, perhaps, Jamaica). What keeps such fragile states going? For instance, if we combine Jamaica's arguably failed economy with its social breakdown, as evidenced by its murder rate (last year alone there were 1,145 reported murders), and one of the world's highest emigration rates, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that Jamaica has failed. Yet Jamaica endures, many people lead fulfilling lives there, and much is still great about that country. Indeed, one might wonder, is Jamaica redeemable? The answer may be "yes". Every great country has passed through periods of terrible turmoil. Indeed, Jamaica has not yet requested nor required intervention from the keepers of world order. However, if the great powers were to unilaterally intervene, or if its citizens were to willingly relinquish their sovereignty to other powers, then we could definitively say it failed. For now, Jamaica struggles, and hopes. But what of Trinidad and Tobago? Are we made of such stern stuff? Indeed, many of our society's leaders sincerely believe it would be better if we were taken over by the UK or US. If that were to happen, then ours would have been proven a failed state. We have forgotten what the challenge of independence is about. We need to create long-term viability, and we have fundamental problems to solve, institutionally, socially, economically, and politically. We can't pretend that we are like the US, UK, Canada, and so forth, that our society is self-sustaining. Failure is much closer at hand for us than for them, and we must think about these fundamental problems far more deeply than they do. http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_opinion?id=97110595

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