Terrorism Failure

(U) In answering the question to what extent and how do failed and failing states facilitate terrorism, one would have to first assess if they if fact do promote terrorism. It is my perception that they do not, based on the many readings and briefings that I have done or attended. However, failing or failed states are contributing factors in some cases if the conditions are just right, but they are not the breeding ground that one might think. What failed and failing states do is create a perfect environment for terrorism to spawn and flourish like a petri dish and the agar with a biotoxin. Robert Rothberg is unsubstantially quoted as saying that factors such as demographic pressures, deprivation, corruption, organized crime, identity cleavages, and resource scarcity contribute to the growth of terrorism. He does state that “in the wilder more marginalized corner of failed states, terror can breed along with prevailing anarchy that naturally accompanies state breakdowns and failure.” Conversely, Troy Thomas, Steven Kiser, and William Casebeer give some slightly different contributing factors or inputs for the causes of terrorism by failed states which for the most part overlap …show more content…
The most important factor of all of these is that of security and followed by goods and services. I would also add that a crucial factor that may be buried in the definition, but not readily apparent is the rapidly emerging issue of lack of reliable access to water. Security is paramount, and if a state cannot protect itself externally and internally and provide adequate security for its citizens, it opens up the state to discord. The Responsibility to Protect is of such importance that the United Nations even recognized it as an important factor by enacting U.N. Resolution 1674 promulgated in