Includes bibliographical references (pages 255-300) and index.

Machine generated contents note: 1. Introduction; 2. What's in a name?; 3. History of a concept; 4. State-building as solution; 5. Building an international apparatus for state-building; 6. The real problem of failed states; 7. Consequences; 8. Neither security nor development.

"This book presents the origins of the term, how it shaped the conceptual framework for international development and security in the post-Cold War era, and why. The book also questions how specific international interventions on both aid and security fronts - greatly varied by actor - based on these outsiders' perceptions of state failure create conditions that fit their characterizations of failed states"-- Provided by publisher.