The White House Won't Respond To Question: Who Else Is A "Failed State"? Are There Any? DOD Refers To White House. United Nations Has No List
/On 15 July 2021, The Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr, 46th President of the United States, referred to the Republic of Cuba as a “failed state” in answering a question at The White House today during a press conference with H.E. Angela Merkel, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Early on 16 July 2021, the Economic Eye On Cuba, a publication of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, contacted The White House (Press and NSC), United States Department of State, United States Department of Defense, Central Intelligence Agency, United Nations, NATO, and European Commission/European Union with the following question:
May I have a list of those locations which the [ENTITY] defines as "failed states"?
As of 5:24 pm on 16 July 2021:
United States Department of State: “The department has no established list of failed states.”
United States Department of Defense: “I refer you to the White House on this.”
United Nations: “The UN has no list of “failed states” and there’s no clear definition at the UN for what that term would constitute. Different academic groups sometimes have defined what a failed state is, and you could refer to them.”
The White House (Press/NSC): No Response.
Central Intelligence Agency: No Response.
NATO: No Response.
EC/EU: No Response.
United States Government Monitoring
Sunday, 21 July 2021, will be one week since the first protests throughout the Republic of Cuba on Sunday, 11 July 2021. For the Biden-Harris Administration (2021- ) what happens this Sunday may be the awaited inflection point to implement components (or all) of the nearing six-month Cuba Policy Review.
The White House, United States Department of State, United States Department of Defense (DOD), United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) will be using outcome modeling analysis to determine how they craft recommendations: 1) Are the protests in size similar, smaller or larger than one week ago 2) Are the protests in geographical areas similar, smaller or larger than one week ago 3) Is the response by the [Miguel] Diaz-Canel Administration similar, less intensive or more intensive than one week ago and 4) Is there a visible the role of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) of the Republic of Cuba rather than personnel from the Ministry of Interior (MININT) of the Republic of Cuba and police departments.
Another Brothers To The Rescue Moment?
The United States Department of Defense (DOD) and United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) are monitoring with concern that one or more individuals subject to United States jurisdiction may seek to use general aviation aircraft departing from the United States to travel near or within the airspace of the Republic of Cuba, with intentions similar or with results similar to those on 24 February 1996 when two Cessna aircraft with four occupants were shot down by a MIG-29UB aircraft operated by the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) of the Republic of Cuba. There is no indication that the Biden-Harris Administration and the Diaz-Canel Administration have engaged directly or indirectly as to this concern.
What Is A “Failed State”
ThoughtCo.: Failed states have become incapable of providing the basic functions of government, such as law enforcement and justice, military defense, education, and a stable economy. Failed states have lost the trust of the people and tend to suffer from civil violence, crime, internal corruption, poverty, illiteracy, and crumbling infrastructure. Factors contributing to state failure include insurgency, high crime rates, overly bureaucratic processes, corruption, judicial incompetence, and military interference in politics. As of 2019, Yemen was considered the world’s most-failed state, followed by Somalia, South Sudan, and Syria.
Wikipedia: “A failed state is a political body that has disintegrated to a point where basic conditions and responsibilities of a sovereign government no longer function properly (see also fragile state and state collapse). A state can also fail if the government loses its legitimacy even if it is performing its functions properly. For a stable state it is necessary for the government to enjoy both effectiveness and legitimacy. Likewise, when a nation weakens and its standard of living declines, it introduces the possibility of total governmental collapse. The Fund for Peace characterizes a failed state as having the following characteristics: Loss of control of its territory, or of the monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force; Erosion of legitimate authority to make collective decisions; Inability to provide public services; Inability to interact with other states as a full member of the international community.”
Encyclopedia Britannica: “Common characteristics of a failing state include a central government so weak or ineffective that it has an inability to raise taxes or other support, and has little practical control over much of its territory and hence there is a non-provision of public services. When this happens, widespread corruption and criminality, the intervention of state and non-state actors, the appearance of refugees and the involuntary movement of populations, sharp economic decline, and military intervention from both within and without the state in question can occur. Metrics have been developed to describe the level of governance of states. The precise level of government control required to avoid being considered a failed state varies considerably amongst authorities. Furthermore, the declaration that a state has "failed" is generally controversial and, when made authoritatively, may carry significant geopolitical consequences.
Failed state, a state that is unable to perform the two fundamental functions of the sovereign nation-state in the modern world system: it cannot project authority over its territory and peoples, and it cannot protect its national boundaries. The governing capacity of a failed state is attenuated such that it is unable to fulfill the administrative and organizational tasks required to control people and resources and can provide only minimal public services. Its citizens no longer believe that their government is legitimate, and the state becomes illegitimate in the eyes of the international community.
A failed state is composed of feeble and flawed institutions. Often, the executive barely functions, while the legislature, judiciary, bureaucracy, and armed forces have lost their capacity and professional independence. A failed state suffers from crumbling infrastructures, faltering utility supplies and educational and health facilities, and deteriorating basic human-development indicators, such as infant mortality and literacy rates. Failed states create an environment of flourishing corruption and negative growth rates, where honest economic activity cannot flourish.
The dynamics leading to and compounding state failure are many and varied, including civil war, ethnic violence or genocide, and predatory government and bureaucratic behaviour. State failure comes in degrees and is often a function of both the collapse of state institutions and societal collapse. A strong state provides core guarantees to its citizens and others under its jurisdiction in the three interrelated realms of security, economics, and politics. A failed state cannot maintain a monopoly on the legitimate use of violence and minimize internal conflict. It cannot formulate or implement public policies to effectively build infrastructure and deliver services or effective and equitable economic policies. In addition, it cannot provide for the representation and political empowerment of its citizens or protect civil liberties and fundamental human rights. Thus, state failure manifests itself when a state can no longer deliver physical security, a productive economic environment, and a stable political system for its people.
The total collapse of the state marks the final, extreme phase of state failure, and very few states can be described as completely failed or collapsed. Yet, research demonstrates that many states suffer from various degrees of weakness and are therefore potential candidates for failure. Weak states were failing with increasing frequency, most of them in Africa but also a handful in Asia and the Middle East, and failed states are known to be hospitable to and to harbour dangerous nonstate actors such as warlords and groups that commit terrorist acts. For example, at the end of the 20th century, Somalia descended into state collapse under rival warlords, and Afghanistan, a failed state under the Taliban regime, harboured the terrorist group al-Qaeda. Furthermore, state failure poses pressing humanitarian issues and possible emergency relief and state-building responsibilities for the international community. Consequently, understanding the dynamics of state failure and strengthening weak nation-states in the developing world assumed new urgency.”
