Over the last decade or two, in particular, ‘fragile states’ have been linked in policy discourse with the worst extremes of personal and international security risk, including cross-border violent conflict, extremism, terrorism, organised crime, smuggling, human trafficking and pandemic disease. While factors like poor governance, human rights abuses, weak institutions and contested power may allow such eventualities in some cases, and the vast majority of contexts assessed as ‘weak’, ‘fragile’ or ‘failed’ have high levels of poverty and insecurity, the correlations are not as simple as once thought. These are complex issues, plagued with ambiguity and contested terminology, which fit within a discourse driven as much by power and national security self-interest as by a desire to address the underlying issues for the people most impacted.