Fragile States: Challenges and Opportunities for Atlantic Relations

Scientific Paper nº. 9

Concerns over the impact of fragile states in human security, stability and development at national as well as regional and international levels are generally shared by actors across the Atlantic regions, but differences in the understanding of fragility and in approaches to fragile states are affecting dialogue and wider cooperation across the Atlantic. The changing geopolitical context in the Atlantic basin and globally is redefining power relations and questioning dominant policy approaches. This is creating new political space and opportunities for Southern Atlantic actors to develop their own institutional frameworks for South-South dialogue and cooperation, distinct from Northern dominated political, economic and security structures, and allow them to develop autonomous options to address common fragility trends, ‘among equals’. The geopolitical reality of the Atlantic basin is however far more complex. It extends beyond the Atlantic regions and develops in parallel tracks of competition and cooperation along North-South and South-South asymmetries and convergence. Shared interest and concerns over the impact of fragility and in specific fragile contexts provide an opportunity to test whether and how Atlantic diversity can generate new momentum and more effective approaches to address fragility in the Atlantic space.