eDiscussion Questions:

Canada's International Policy Statement and Failed and Fragile States
What are your thoughts/comments on the approach taken towards failed and fragile states in Canada's International Policy Statement?
 MORE INFO: International Policy Statement - Failed and Fragile States: the New Challenge

Short vs long term commitment?
Prevention, stabilization and recovery operations in failed and fragile states tend to require a long term commitment of significant resources. How do we sustain the public and political commitment required to ensure our contribution to the state-building process is durable and effective?

Response criteria?
Canada does not have the capacity or resources to respond to every crisis or request. Under what conditions should we not assist a failed or fragile state?

Stability vs democracy?
Holding elections prior to the stabilization of the security situation and the development of a democratic political culture can contribute to instability. Given this, in cases where there are significant risks of destabilization, should Canada support undemocratic modes of rule in the medium-term in the interests of long-term stability and democracy?

Failed and Fragile Cities?
Many of the challenges associated with failed and fragile states can be traced to major urban centres. For example, stabilization efforts in cities are complicated by high population densities, the difficulty of locating combatants, the high risk of civilian casualties, damage to critical infrastructure and the potential for the spread of disease.  Do urban and rural areas differ in the human security challenges they present? Do urban areas require new ways of thinking about human security? If yes, how can existing mechanisms for conflict prevention, stability operations and peacebuilding be adapted to address the particular issues associated with failed and fragile cities? 
 MORE INFO: Failed and fragile cities: human security in urban spaces


eDiscussion Resources:

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