Introduction: Regulatory State Building and the Transformation of Statehood

Abstract

In the post-Cold War years, but particularly since the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States (US), the developing state and the functioning of its institutions have become primary security concerns for policymakers in the world’s major states and multilateral organisations. Initially, failed and fragile states were viewed mainly in relation to humanitarian crises, economic development prospects and human rights violations. However, in the course of the 1990s they have come to be seen as constituting considerable risk to states and societies many kilometres away, due to the perception that the absence or poor functioning of governance structures of a particular kind increases the likelihood of transnational risks, such as terrorism, international crime, environmental degradation and disease, to fester unchecked within their borders and eventually migrate elsewhere.