Fragility and global (dis)order: lessons from North Africa

In this episode, podcast host Meia Nouwens is joined by Dr Benjamin Petrini, Research Fellow for Conflict, Security and Development, and Dr Umberto Profazio, Associate Fellow for Conflict, Security and Development, to reflect on the concept of fragility.

Approaching the concept of fragility in a multidimensional way, Meia, Benjamin and Umberto examine the origins of the term, as well as the misconceptions often associated with it. Benjamin and Umberto explain what a fragile country is, highlighting that fragility is not limited to countries experiencing conflict.

Explaining that fragility affects stability through several different and interrelated channels, Benjamin and Umberto highlight various dimensions of fragility, including technological transformations and rapid changes in society, poverty, migration and forced displacement, weak institutions, environmental pressures, economic challenges and demographic pressures.

Meia, Benjamin and Umberto also discuss the impact of COVID-19 on fragility, stressing that the toll of the pandemic will be higher on fragile countries than more stable ones. Noting that more and more states are exerting their influence in fragile countries, Benjamin and Umberto conclude that fragility can now be viewed through the prism of foreign policy and geopolitics.

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Date of recording: 5 March 2021

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