International Development Organizations and Fragile States: Law and Disorder (Governance and Limited Statehood)

This book addresses a conundrum for the international development community: The law of development cooperation poses major constraints on delivering aid where it is needed most. The existence of a state with an effective government is a basic condition for the transfer of aid, making development cooperation with ‘fragile’ nations particularly challenging. The author explores how international organizations like the World Bank have responded by adopting formal and informal rules to engage specifically with countries with weak or no governments. Von Engelhardt provides a critical analysis of the discourse on fragile states and how it has shaped the policy decision-making of international organizations. By demonstrating how perceptions of fragility can have significant consequences both in practice and in law, the work challenges conventional research that dismisses state fragility as a phenomenon beyond law. It also argues that the legal parameters for effective global policy play a crucial role, and offers a fresh approach to a topic that is central to international security and development. This book addresses a conundrum for the international development community: The law of development cooperation poses major constraints on delivering aid where it is needed most. The existence of a state with an effective government is a basic condition for the transfer of aid, making development cooperation with 'fragile' nations particularly challenging. The author explores how international organizations like the World Bank have responded by adopting formal and informal rules to engage specifically with countries with weak or no governments. Von Engelhardt provides a critical analysis of the discourse on fragile states and how it has shaped the policy decision-making of international organizations. By demonstrating how perceptions of fragility can have significant consequences both in practice and in law, the work challenges conventional research that dismisses state fragility as a phenomenon beyond law. It is posited that the legal parameters for effective global policy play a crucial role, and a fresh approach to a topic that is central to international security and development Front Matter ....Pages i-viii Introduction (Marie von Engelhardt)....Pages 1-15 Fragile States: The Discrepancy Between Empirical and Juridical Statehood (Marie von Engelhardt)....Pages 17-43 Development Cooperation with Fragile States: From Discourse to Action (Marie von Engelhardt)....Pages 45-78 The Law of Development Cooperation: Interlude on the Nature of Rules and Substance of Analysis (Marie von Engelhardt)....Pages 79-99 The World Bank’s Rules for Engaging with Fragile States (Marie von Engelhardt)....Pages 101-154 A Comparison with the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the European Union (Marie von Engelhardt)....Pages 155-193 Formalizing Fragile States? Of Emerging Patterns and the Potentials and Perils of Regulation (Marie von Engelhardt)....Pages 195-224 Conclusion (Marie von Engelhardt)....Pages 225-231 Back Matter ....Pages 233-259