Issues and dilemmas in fragile situations

DIIS publishes report synthesizing a study involving 17 researchers

The report seeks to provide an overview of current debates and central dilemmas in relation to fragile situations, based on a study commissioned by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Ministry commissioned the study as a background for developing a set of guiding principles for Danish activities in fragile situations. These principles are to be published later in 2008.

The study contains four background papers on significant aspects of fragility and twelve policy briefs discussing different development issues in relation to fragility. The synthesis report draws out the main lessons from the study so as to provide the reader with a general introduction to the topic and to the particular challenges and dilemmas that characterise fragility and support to fragile situations.

The report is organised as follows. Section 2 discusses why the concern with fragile situations has emerged and the origins of thinking on fragility. In Section 3 an attempt is made to define the meaning of fragility and specify when it is useful to talk about fragile situations and fragile states. Section 4 takes up major issues in understanding fragile situations. It provides an overview of significant distinctions between different fragile situations, and it identifies important dilemmas that cannot be resolved at a general level, but need to be addressed in terms of their contextual specificities. The role of the international community is briefly discussed in Section 5. Finally, Section 6 provides a set of recommendations with respect to the guiding principles for the engagement of Denmark in fragile situations.

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