Foreign Policy Blogs

Failed State FAIL

The anti-corruption watchdog group Transparency International believes that Kenya runs the risk of becoming a “failed state” because the bogged-down political process in that country means corruption is going unattended to. This seems like a dramatic, and not especially useful, overstatement. Kenya has had more than its share of difficulties, to be sure. But the “failed state” concept ought to be a bit more rigorously applied. If anything, Kenya may be stronger than it has been at any time since the election violence from late 2007-early 2008. That does not mean the country is out of the woods. But it does mean that we should be wary of facilely resorting to the descriptive and analytical equivalent of the nuclear option.

 

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Derek Catsam
Derek Catsam

Derek Catsam is an associate professor of history at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin. Derek writes about race and politics in the United States and Africa, sports, and terrorism. He is currently working on books on bus boycotts in the United States and South Africa in the 1940s and 1950s, the Freedom Rides, and South African resistance politics in the 1980s. He has lived, worked, and travelled extensively throughout southern Africa. He is also a lifelong sports fan, with the Boston Red Sox as his first true love. He was one of about three dozen people to write books about the 2004 World Champion Red Sox, and the result is Bleeding Red: A Red Sox Fan's Diary of the 2004 Season. He writes about politics, sports, travel, pop culture, and just about anything else that comes to mind.

Areas of Focus:
Africa; Zimbabwe; South Africa; Apartheid

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