Foreign Aid and the Fragile Consensus on State Fragility

Forthcoming in: Journal of International Relations and Development

Available as Discussion Paper 8/2013, German Development Institute (DIE)

28 Pages Posted: 17 Oct 2009 Last revised: 26 Jul 2013

See all articles by Jörg Faust

Jörg Faust

German Development Institute (DIE)

Jörn Grävingholt

German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)

Sebastian Ziaja

German Development Institute/Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE); University of Essex - Department of Government

Date Written: March 4, 2013

Abstract

Most actors in the field of foreign aid agree with the call for coordinated engagement in fragile states in order to more effectively counter the consequences and origins of state failure. However, despite such demands, governments from OECD countries as well as multilateral agencies that are engaged in fragile states often continue to act in an uncoordinated manner and fail to reach higher levels of harmonisation. Why is effective coordination so hard to achieve? This article argues that three major challenges explain the persistent problems of donor harmonisation in fragile states: (1) the cognitive challenge of explaining the origins of state fragility and deducing effective instruments and interventions; (2) the political challenge of reconciling divergent political motives for engagement; as well as (3) the bureaucratic challenge related to the organisational logic of competing aid agencies.

Keywords: Fragile States, Development, Foreign Aid, Harmonization, Donor Coordination

Suggested Citation

Faust, Jörg and Grävingholt, Jörn and Ziaja, Sebastian and Ziaja, Sebastian, Foreign Aid and the Fragile Consensus on State Fragility (March 4, 2013). Forthcoming in: Journal of International Relations and Development, Available as Discussion Paper 8/2013, German Development Institute (DIE), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1489936 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1489936

Jörg Faust (Contact Author)

German Development Institute (DIE) ( email )

Tulpenfeld 6
Bonn, 53113
Germany

HOME PAGE: http://www.die-gdi.de

Jörn Grävingholt

German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS) ( email )

Tulpenfeld 6
Bonn, 53113
Germany
+49-228-94927-172 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.idos-research.de/en/joern-graevingholt/

Sebastian Ziaja

German Development Institute/Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) ( email )

Tulpenfeld 6
Bonn, 53113
Germany

University of Essex - Department of Government ( email )

Wivenhoe Park
Colchester CO4 3SQ, CO4 3SQ
United Kingdom

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