Abstract Over recent decades, several states have experienced mounting difficulties in fulfilling classic state functions such as guaranteeing territorial integrity and law and order. Some “failing states” have even seen the disappearance of all central authority: “state collapse”. Since 11 September 2001, this phenomenon has been particularly associated with terrorism, trans-border criminality and global instability. The international community presents this “Orthodox Failed States Narrative” as an objective, apolitical analysis of a “new” problem. The hegemonic account cherishes ideological assumptions that are seldom made explicit and veil power asymmetries in the international political economy. The securitisation of the Global South provides the pretext for confrontation and top-down restructuring of domestic politics by Coalitions of the Willing in the context of the Global War on Terror (GWOT). Through analysis of America's Somalia policy, this article illustrates theoretical flaws underpinning the...