Running head: FRAGILE STATE ANALYSIS (NEPAL)
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Fragile State Analysis Nepal
Khem R Neupane
Course Number (POL-101) – Introduction to Political Science
Colorado State University – Global Campus
Dr. Erika Smith
December 3, 2017
FRAGILE STATE ANALYSIS (NEPAL)
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FRAGILE STATE (NEPAL)
Nepal is a landlocked country in Asia bordering India and China. It has a population of about
28.4 million people. Nepal has a lot of cultural similarity with India and more economic tie with
China. There is ethnic diversity in Nepal with Hindu being practiced by 81% of the population. It
inherited the caste system from India. Nepal is considered among the world's developing
countries. Acemoglu, an economist, urges that several factors make a nation to fail namely; weak
government, extractive economic institutions, forced labor, discrimination, monopolistic
tendencies to economic opportunities, and exclusion. Nepal as a state qualifies as a failed state
based on the factors (Acemoglu et al., 2012).
Overview of Nepal
Nepal is divided into 75 districts divided into five geographical areas namely; eastern,
central, western, mid-western and far western. Inequality had been perpetrated under the
monarch system of government. Ethnic grievances have historically been a source of conflict.
Poverty was widespread, and Nepal is listed as a low-income country according to the human
development index it is ranked 144 With a Gross National Income $730.00 according to world
bank data (2016). It is regarded as partially free regarding press freedom according to the
Freedom House data (2017). The ethnic-racial groups include; the indigenous (Adibasi Janajali),
Dalit (Untouchables) and Madhesi (plain people). Hindu, Buddhism, and Islam have practiced
religions (Lawoti & Pahari 2012).
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Religious and discrimination conflicts were shared among the lower castes that were
excluded from the temples and ability to gain economic opportunities like selling milk to public
diaries (Lawoti & Pahari, 2012). Nepal is a multi-party election has reduced the influence of the
monarch. The monarch was the source of civil war and instability in Nepal: in the past, they
jailed popular uprisings that wanted to bring change in the system of government. Civil liberties
were curtailed by the monarch.
Genesis of Instability
The source of uncertainty in Nepal is historical. The factors that contributed to the
weakness are; ethnic tensions, caste system, land ownership inequality, poverty, lack of political
participation and failure of the monarch to offer public services like education, health, and
infrastructure (Do & Iyer, 2010). Studies have documented that increasing poverty is the single
contributor to countries experiencing war.
In Nepal, the Monarch had the power to give or seize land. War was historically used as
an avenue of personal advancement along the caste system. Nepal is known to have contributed
soldier to Britain "the Gurkhas." Resources owners abused forced labor without pay culture as
payment for the debt owed. The Monarch was a weak government unable to provide services to
the rural areas (Tilouine & Gellner, 2004). The sponsors of violent resistance were the
Communist Party of Nepal (under Maoist movement). The armed struggle began in Rolpa
District with an attack on a police post in western Nepal.
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Later the violent resistant spread by targeting government installations, civil servants,
police posts, army barracks and banks. The resistance spread to Rukum and Jajarkot. The
uprising controlled the majority of the rural settings in Nepal. The primary goals of resistance
were to overthrow the Monarch, create a people’s republic and bring about the constitutional
order. The people's war started in 1996 to 2006. There was a ceasefire to allow negotiations in
January 2003 which collapsed and was restarted in September 2003. Civilians died both from
police and military activities as well as the Maoists. The people's war claimed over 13,000 lives
with over 200,000 displaced. War ended in 2006 with a comprehensive peace agreement brings
about a new constitutional order.
Classification and Structure of Government
The government was initially controlled autocratically by the Monarch, without people
participation. The rural areas were ignored and resistance to the monarch led to arrest and jailing
of over 1000 people in 1999. The Monarch ruled under the state of emergency and declared the
Maoists a terrorist organization. The military joined the purge of the rebels. The first elections in
Nepal started in 1991 followed by 1994 and 1999. (Upreti, 2004) This election was flawed and
not representative of the people.
In 12 years there were 12 governments formed reflecting the state of instability. The
political leadership was corrupt and inefficient. After a peace agreement in 2006 and intervention
of United Nations peace was achieved, a program of disarmament was started. A collaboration of
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political parties with the Communist party won elections in 2008. The rebel leader Pushpa
Kamal Dahal became the prime minister.
Competition, Stability and Civil Society
There was an active civil society in Nepal that made the world aware of the situation of
the civil war in the Himalaya's. There are several political parties in Nepal. It's their collaboration
that ended the Monarch control with Communist party winning the elections. With the people's
constituent assembly, a new constitutional order became operational. The civil war caused
atrocities among the civilians. Cases of child soldiers, rape, and murder were common. The
beginning of the war majority of men escaped the villages leaving women alone.
It contributed to the recruitment of women combatants that was historically and culturally
unheard of for women to be in the war (Do & Iyer, 2010). Women now constitute 33% of the
armed forces in Nepal creating inclusion and stability (Singh, 2004). There was land
redistribution, improved access to public employment and economic empowerment. The corrupt
system of forced labor and over taxation was removed. The government has been able to invest
in infrastructure with the help of Chinese government; they have built roads, installed fiber optic
cables.
Education and health services have improved through the assistance of United Nations,
United Kingdom, the USA, and China. Being an agricultural country where 80% derive their
livelihoods from farming land ownership tenure is a source of economic stability. There are
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investments in Tourism especially mountaineering contributed by the presence of Mt. Everest.
The daily life is one of struggle through peasant farming, logging, fishing, and service industry
(Kristine, 2010).
Economic Environment
The economic environment has improved with the democratic space. The economy is
supported by agriculture where approximately 80% are employed. The services industry includes
hotel and restaurant services growing on the backbone of the presence of Mt. Everest.
Biodiversity is another goldmine Nepal can extract from its natural resources. There is an active
artistic industry of paintings, sculpture (metal & wood), the mosaic painting that is a tourist
attraction.
The elephant safaris, boat ride safaris, and mountain climbing are some of the economic
activities in Nepal. Regarding natural resources, there is the Himalayan forest, wildlife, Mount
Everest, natural rivers enabling fishing and sports. There is still the reliance on foreign aid to
offer essential health services like immunization and child health. Britain, USA, China and the
United Nations have instrumental in support to international humanitarian organizations in
Nepal. The relationship with neighbors is cordial (Acemoglu et al., 2012).
The Plan to Restore Nepal to a Prosperous Nation
To be able to develop a workable solution, we need to ask ourselves what brought the
civil war and the failed state status. To answer this question, a probable culprit would be the past
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Monarch and have a weak military strength to manage rebels in the densely forested Himalayan
forest. The government lacked legitimacy to rule due to lack of representation, corruption, and
discrimination. In this regard, therefore, there is need to develop strong working public
institutions namely; the court system, the rule of law where police and the justice system are
operational, trusted and just. In many instances, people disregard the court system when they
believe it favors the rich and people choose to take the law into their hands –possibility of
anarchy when there is no order.
Secondly is would recommend a robust political system of government, where there is
real people representation where just laws can be legislated.
Infrastructure development
improves on the roads network, provision of water and electricity to promote trade and
manufacturing thereby creating jobs and employment opportunities. An ignorant population is
easily fooled into illegal activities.
World Bank data reports that only 26% are connected to the internet. Opening up the
communication space will increase trade, information, and learning since the world is connected.
Informed public means improved capacity to participate in building a democratic, representative
country (World Bank).
There is Hope
The building bricks of a genuinely representative and stable nation can be found on the
factors that bring instability and enumerated by Acemoglu an Economist and author of why
states fail? States fail for lack of representation, political patronage, discrimination as regards
FRAGILE STATE ANALYSIS (NEPAL)
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economic opportunities, excessive extractive financial institutions, weak governments, inability
to provide essential social services like education, health, security and build infrastructure.
Nepal under the monarch benefitted from political patronage helping a few elites
especially the ruling class regarding education, public service jobs and ability to get allocated
land. The Monarch had not built powerful institutions like the police, legal systems, and
infrastructure. When the Maoist uprising started, it was unable to cope and started looking for
USA and United Kingdom to support terming it a terrorist organization. A government unable to
provide security and services to its people is outing disaster.
The change of government has brought a semblance of stability, though a lot still needs to
be done to deliver services to the people. Building internet infrastructure, enhancing
communication and enabling the citizens to use it for trade and economic development will help
create jobs and build a more stable nation with less poverty. Poverty is the number one cause of
unrest. Assimilation of all rebels into the national force with proper discipline and service to the
public regarding assisting with immunization, infrastructure development will create stability
and inclusion. Continued use of democratic means to bring change need to be supported and
encouraged.
Leaders need to be accountable to their citizens. Taking deliberate actions to reduce the
vast infrastructural disparity between the rural areas and the urban areas will reduce public
grievances against the government: developing that art industry can help bring foreign revenue
for the unique art. More significant investment in human capital is a sure way of gaining human
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resources superior to the extractive economy. Great nations like Japan have managed to build a
robust and vibrant country on the strength of its human capital.
Abolition of the caste system altogether will give people dignity and ability to fend for
themselves as equal citizens without prejudice, discrimination or ethnicity. Promotion of
constitutionalism that is representative can bring about lasting peace in countries that are
considered unstable, fragile or on the brink of failing. Acemoglu has offered a prescription to the
world willing to prevent failing nations. United Nations need to be the custodian of what is
indeed happening to avoid unnecessary human suffering brought about by conflict and war
namely; rape, deaths and forceful displacements of people. It is easy to build a nation using
democratic means than rebuilding after a civil war. Trust is not quickly restored.
Conclusion
Nepal is a landlocked country in Asia bordering India and China. It has a population of
about 28 million people. Nepal has a lot of cultural similarity with India and more economic ties
with China. There is ethnic diversity in Nepal with Hindu being practiced by 31% of the
population. Nepal is divided into 75 districts divided into five geographical areas namely;
eastern, central, western, mid-western and far western. Inequality had been perpetrated under the
monarch system of government. Religious and discrimination conflicts were shared among the
lower castes that were excluded from the temples and ability to gain economic opportunities like
selling milk to public diaries. The source of uncertainty in Nepal is historical. The factors that
contributed to the weakness are; ethnic tensions, caste system, land ownership inequality,
FRAGILE STATE ANALYSIS (NEPAL)
10
poverty, lack of political participation and failure of the monarch to offer public services like
education, health, and infrastructure. In Nepal, the Monarch had the power to give or seize land.
War was historically used as an avenue of personal advancement along the caste system. Nepal is
known to have contributed soldier to Britain "the Gurkhas." Resources owners abused forced
labor without pay culture as payment for the debt owed. The government was initially controlled
autocratically by the Monarch, without people participation. The rural areas were ignored, and
resistance to the monarch led to arrest and jailing of over 1000 people in 1999.There was an
active civil society in Nepal that made the world aware of the situation of the civil war in the
Himalaya's. There are several political parties in Nepal. It's their collaboration that ended the
Monarch control with Communist party winning the elections. The economic environment has
improved with the democratic space. The economy is supported by agriculture where
approximately 80% are employed. The services industry includes hotel and restaurant services
growing on the backbone of the presence of Mt. Everest. To be able to develop a workable
solution, we need to ask ourselves what brought the civil war and the failed state status. To
answer this question, a probable culprit would be the past Monarch and have a weak military
strength to manage rebels in the densely forested Himalayan forest. The building bricks of a
genuinely representative and stable nation can be found on the factors that bring instability and
enumerated by Acemoglu an Economist and author of why states fail? States fail for lack of
representation, political patronage, discrimination as regards economic opportunities, excessive
extractive financial institutions, weak governments, inability to provide essential social services
like education, health, security and build infrastructure.
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References:
Acemoglu, D., & Robinson, J. A. (2012, June 17). 10 Reasons Countries Fall Apart. Retrieved
December 03, 2017, from http://foreignpolicy.com/2012/06/18/10-reasons-countries-fallapart/
Cailmail, B. (2009, January 12). The Fall of a Hindu Monarchy: Maoists in Power in Nepal.
Retrieved December 03, 2017, from https://www.ifri.org/en/publications/enotes/asievisions/fall-hindu-monarchy-maoists-power-nepal#sthash.XLxhmYeO.dpbs
Do, Q. T., & Iyer, L. (2010). Geography, Poverty and Conflict in Nepal. SSRN Electronic
Journal, 47, 735-748. doi:10.2139/ssrn.979610
GNI per capita, Atlas method (current US$). (n.d.). Retrieved December 03, 2017, from
https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GNP.PCAP.CD?locations=NP&view=chart
Human Development Reports. (n.d.). Retrieved December 03, 2017, from
http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/NPL
Kristine, E. (2010). Recruiting Rebels: Indoctrination and Political Education in Nepal. in The
Maoist Insurgency in Nepal: Revolution in the 21st Century, Mahendra Lawoti and Anup
Pahari, eds. London: Routledge
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Kumar, S. (2011). China’s Expanding Footprint in Nepal: Threats to India. Journal of Defence
Studies, 5(2). Retrieved December 3, 2017, from
https://idsa.in/jds/5_2_2011_ChinaExpandingFootprintinNepal_skumar.
Lawoti, M., & Pahari, A. K. (2010). The Maoist insurgency in Nepal: revolution in the twentyfirst century. London: Routledge.
Lecomte-Tilouine, M., & Gellner, D. N. (2004). Regicide and Maoist revolutionary warfare in
Nepal: Modern incarnations of a warrior kingdom. Anthropology Today, 20(1), 13-19.
doi:10.1111/j.0268-540x.2004.00247.x
Lloyd, Sue. (2015). “BBC Reporters Special-Nepal, Maoist Insurgency, 2002”. Published. Dec.
23 2015. Retrieved December 3, 2017, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=168&v=HC-gjIMksg8
NEPAL 2012 INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM REPORT. (n.d.). Retrieved
December 3, 2017, from https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/208648.pdf
Nepal. (2017, August 25). Retrieved December 03, 2017, from
https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2017/nepal
Singh, S. (2004). Impact of long-term political conflict on population health in Nepal. Canadian
Medical Association Journal, 171(12), 1499-1501. doi:10.1503/cmaj.1040777
FRAGILE STATE ANALYSIS (NEPAL)
Upreti, B. R. (2004). The price of neglect: from resource conflict to Maoist insurgency in the
Himalayan kingdom. Kathmandu: Bhrikuti Academic Publications.
Wallace, R. (2013). “The Nepal Documentary” published Feb. 7 2013, Retrieved, October 29,
2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dW5kRBq30m4
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