In an age when areas such as health, education, and the environment are becoming more and more dependent on the state, the state demonstrates again and again that it is not able to cope. State Failure is about this failure to states in both the East and the West to make urgent economic and political decision. The problem, Janicke argues, begins in the political sphere where politicians, who are elected to make decisions, become merely the legitimators of their government departments.

The roots of the problem lie deeply embedded in the industrial structure, a structure that has passed its innovative phase and relies increasingly on public resources. Examining the failure of states in both Eastern and Western Europe, Janicke concludes that we face a future of either stagnation or stark deindustrialization unless political means are found to solve the problems-from environmental destruction to unemployment- that now face us all.