State collapse

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State collapse is a sudden dissolution of a sovereign state.^[1] It is often used to describe extreme situations in which state institutions dissolve rapidly.^[2][1]

When a new regime moves in, often led by the military, civil society typically fails to rally around the central government, and societal actors fend for themselves at the local level.^[1] Neighboring states interfere politically, sometimes harboring dissidents within their borders, and the informal economy becomes dominant, operating beyond the control of the state and further undermining potential reconstruction.^[1]