Comparing Rotberg's Arguments And Assumptions

Arguments and assumptions made by the author Throughout his excerpt, Rotberg has made a prominent claim about states and their standings. His main argument constitutes around whether a state is defined as weak, strong, or failing. What he wants the readers to understand is that in order for a Nation state to be classified as a Nation, they need to be able to provide the main component of a state, political goods. Rotberg stresses that not only do states need political goods, but also they need to have security in order to run properly and efficiently. One assumption made by Rotberg is that he believes there are four classifications when it comes to defining states. He classifies them as, A strong state, A weak state, a failing or failed state,
and a collapsed state. A strong state is one that is able to provide a high quality and quantity of political goods. A weak state as Rotberg defined, is one that supplies a quality or quantity of a lesser amount or less than adequate amount of political goods. A failed state is one that has no or lacks security, can provide no means of political goods to citizens, and are corrupt. As a failed state, they may be able to hold a seat in the United Nations and function as a Sovereign in regional and world politics, but in most cases the state fails them by the inability to perform state functions adequately. A collapsed state is seen as an extreme and rare case when it comes to state failure. Another assumption that Rotberg has made is that even when if a state fails or collapses for that manner, that state can be salvaged and brought back. Rotberg states that is able to happen because he has stated that even when states fail they can be brought back to weakness instead of failing more or even collapsing. They are able to be saved due to the fact that there is a “fluid continuum” which means that states fail but can be brought back to weakness. His arguments can be supported because he has noted that this happens when it comes down to the ranking of states, especially in today’s developing world and society. Counterarguments of weak, failing, and collapsed states As Rotberg has explained what it takes to be defined as a weak or a failing state, he has also made the conclusion as to why.
Rotberg believes that when it comes to a state's failure, it doesn’t just happen because of other implication of the state but solely because of human agency. One cannot find the means to agree with Rotberg’s statement. Yes, human agency plays a significant role when it comes to a state's defiance, but it doesn’t necessarily mean it has to fail based on that one factor alone. If a state is already weak in the area of not being able to supply an adequate quality or quantity of political goods for the state and the citizens, it’s not the fault of the human regency it’s the fault of a state as a whole. Blaming just one factor for a state’s failure in not really justifiable. There are many factors that can lead to a state's weakening or failure. Even in some weak states, there can be a strong dictatorship still that is trying to do the necessary means to prevent the state from actually failing. When a state is unable to provide basic services or is only able to provide them at a low level that is when it starts failing. For a second counterargument, Rotberg has also stated that when a state is on the verge of failure or has failed it is because the nation state controls the capital city and it cannot project power. With that being said, he believes that if the state does not have a monopoly on the use of force within its borders and it isn’t able to
repress secessionists and the potential rebels then the nation state has failed or is on the verge of doing so. In this argument, Rotberg blames the state for not being able to have control or ends up taking control of the capital city but it shouldn’t be the reason that it has failed. First Rotberg has blamed a state’s failure due to human regency, but further into his text he describes the several factors that lead to a state's failure that don’t necessarily have to do with human regency.

Practical application of weak, failing, and collapsed states Between Rotberg’s main argument surrounding the text and the counterarguments that underlie in the text, one would say that the arguments were well empirically supported and are useful.
Rotberg is able to define what his argument means in his text with the knowledge of being able to define what a state really is and the different type of states that exist throughout the nations. In today’s world, Syria can be seen as an example as a stated that has failed due to many unfortunate issues dating back to March 2011. There was a recent article pertaining to Syrian refugees and their status of going towards Turkey, though Turkey does not really want them crossing over to their side. The refugees are now starting to make note that they aren’t coming all that way just to lie at the border and not be allowed into Turkey. What they want is safety and security for their children and families that their homeland, Syria isn’t able to provide. The article correlates with Rotberg’s definition of a failing state because in Syria’s case, there is no political goods mainly security that is able to be provided for it’s citizens in the country. The unfortunate events of Syria’s “cold war” have been ongoing since 2011 and it has continued to get worse over the years. It is unfortunate to see a real life example of what a failed state really looks like, but its just Syria. There are so many places around the world that may not be in the exact same situation but they too have a weak or failing
state. In the case for Syria, it seems impossible to revive this failing state back into being considered a weak one because of the circumstances that have been going on for far too long. Though things are trying to come to an end finally, there is still a lot of damage that has to be repaired. When it comes to a state’s failure, one believes that there is no easy way of being able to bounce back from that easily, though Rotberg has stated it is possible.