Fragile States: Defining Difficult Environments for Poverty Reduction
Fragile states take many forms, and have been defined in various ways. This paper adopts a definition of ‘difficult environments’ grounded in the role of the state in development effectiveness. Difficult environments are defined as those areas where the state is unable or unwilling to harness domestic and international resources effectively for poverty reduction. This approach is intended to complement other analytical approaches to fragile states, including the work of the UK Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit project on Countries At Risk of Instability