The course aims at familiarizing students with state failure/fragility by discussing its theoretical aspects, specific case-studies and international efforts undertaken to deal with the problem. At the same time, it attempts to answer the question about the real impact of fragile/failed states in a globalized world. The first part of the course will focus on theoretical and methodological aspects of measuring state fragility, while the second will be devoted to the analysis of case-studies, with the particular emphasis on the region of Sub-Saharan Africa. At the end of the course the students should understand the key regional and global consequences of state failure/state fragility and their impact on the international security. They should be also able to recognize and analyse the political, social and economic determinants of this phenomenon.