Introduction

Abstract

The concepts of “ungoverned spaces” and “failed states” where the limited presence of the state is seen as a challenge to global security have generated a rich intellectual debate in recent years. In this edited volume, scholars from Latin America and the United States will analyze how the US foreign-policy making circles have applied the concepts to the creation of new US security initiatives in the Latin American region during the post September 11, 2001 era. The concept of failed states is not a new one, having entered US political thinking in the early 1990s, but the September 11, 2001 events focused attention on the failure of the Afghan state to prevent the operation of Al-Qaeda on its territory. The situation in Afghanistan, and subsequent growing concern about states perceived to be similar, only intensified concern about the role of failed states in harboring or aiding armed groups with the intent to harm the interests of the United States. This outlook was codified in the US National Security Strategy of 2002, which declared, “America is now threatened less by conquering states than by failing ones.”