ABSTRACT The dominant international discourse about ‘fragile states’ calls for external actors to build the capacity of domestic institutions as a means of overcoming poverty and insecurity in the global South. It frames the pathway to greater peace and prosperity as primarily, if not entirely, domestically constituted, thereby confining the causes of poverty and insecurity to the domestic arena as well. This article argues that by focusing so intently on the domestic capacity of these states, international peace/state-building and development interventions discount, and thereby reinforce, non-domestic factors that impede security and development. These include: external support for repressive regimes; the sale of weapons to local actors; and the preservation of international trade arrangements implicated in sustaining global inequalities. This article argues that while each of these issues have greater levers for change in the North than in the South, they are generally excluded from discourses about overcoming poverty and insecurity. Therefore, if international actors are serious about attending to these issues, there are more pressing areas for reform than the internal institutional configurations of Southern states. Intervening in domestic institutions is, however, what development and state-building agencies are structured to do, meaning that to overhaul this mandate would directly challenge their existence.

中文翻译：

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国内政治的首要地位与贫困和不安全感的再现

摘要 关于“脆弱国家”的主要国际话语呼吁外部行动者建立国内机构的能力，以此作为克服全球南方贫困和不安全的一种手段。它将通往更大和平与繁荣的道路确定为主要（如果不是全部）由国内构成，从而也将贫困和不安全的原因也限制在国内领域。本文认为，通过如此专注于这些国家的国内能力，国际和平/国家建设和发展干预会打折扣，从而加强阻碍安全和发展的非国内因素。其中包括： 对专制政权的外部支持；向当地演员出售武器；以及维持与维持全球不平等有关的国际贸易安排。本文认为，虽然这些问题中的每一个在北方都比南方有更大的变革杠杆，但它们通常被排除在关于克服贫困和不安全的讨论之外。因此，如果国际行动者认真对待这些问题，那么与南方各州的内部机构配置相比，还有更紧迫的改革领域。然而，干预国内机构是发展和国家建设机构的结构，这意味着彻底改革这一任务将直接挑战它们的存在。除了南方各州的内部机构配置之外，还有更紧迫的改革领域。然而，干预国内机构是发展和国家建设机构的结构，这意味着彻底改革这一任务将直接挑战它们的存在。除了南方各州的内部机构配置之外，还有更紧迫的改革领域。然而，干预国内机构是发展和国家建设机构的结构，这意味着彻底改革这一任务将直接挑战它们的存在。