After The Cold War The United States Should "state Failure" Policy Research

The theories concerning"state failure"come up with the changes of international relations after the Cold War."State failure"is used to refer to"failing state","failed state"and"collapsed state", where the government has failed to perform basic administrative functions and lost legitimacy, which results in domestic turbulence and chaos in political and social life. The United States, using political, economic, social and military indicators, has identified some underdeveloped countries as"failing states", which posed threat to American national interests and security. After"September 11", the United States began to perceive"state failure"from humanitarian perspective to anti-terrorism perspective and further upgraded its role in American global security strategy. Bush administration related"state failure"with the threat of terrorism and thus raised the policy of"preemptive drive"and"regime change"which emphasized intervention with military means. Therefore, the focus of American response to"state failure"has shifted from relatively single and passive humanitarian aids and peacekeeping operations under the UN to reconstruction and stabilization actions in these countries. At the same time, a domestic multifunctional coordination mechanism led by the State Department has been established in the United States.By analyzing and comparing three typical cases,"failing state"Indonesia,"failed state"Afghanistan and"collapsed state"Somalia, the dissertation attempts to explore the strategic intention and policy preferences behind American response to"state failure". And in practice, the United States applies political, diplomatic, economic, and military means and sanctions synthetically and has formed three different responding patterns: democratization pattern, nation building pattern and conflict settlement and peacekeeping pattern.Although American responding policy has realized its strategic objectives in a certain extent, it paid out heavy cost. The problem of"state failure"is far from being solved, and its threat to the United States has not been eliminated yet. Besides, the United States has faced the dilemma of sovereignty and legitimacy and it has been baffled with the jump-off point and the degree of intervention. There are also other social and cultural dilemmas. Analyzed from American national interests and its global strategy, responding to"state failure"is not America's crucial or core interests, but the United States will continue to pay attention to the issue and make necessary adjustment in policy and its application.