The effectiveness of international regimes in states with low internal capacity : a study of international refugee regime in Afghanistan, Iraq and Sudan

Nearly one out of the six states in the world is regarded with low internal capacity by the Failed State Index 2012. However, having a priori assumption on states’ internal capacity to take decisions and implement them within their own states, scholarly attention has been given to the factors that shape states’ behaviors towards international regimes, mainly discussing under what conditions states will comply with them. Thus, the literature on international regimes neglected to study the effectiveness of international regimes in the states with low internal capacity. This dissertation deals with the research question of how the presence of states with low internal capacity creates implications for the effectiveness of iv international regimes and how regimes’ institutions can operate in such states to increase regime effectiveness. I examine this research question through quantitative and qualitative analyses and with a specific reference to the 4Rs activities of the international refugee regime in three refugee producing countries, namely Afghanistan, Iraq and Sudan. I argue that international refugee regime was not effective in these countries and I propose six tentative principles to UNHCR and its implementing partners to increase the effectiveness of international refugee regime in refugee producing countries with low internal capacity: providing civilian security, overcoming socio-cultural and religious conservatism, increasing government capacity and willingness to cooperate with international community, building trust among local people towards international community and increasing their support for regime activities.