The interest of the international community in so-called fragile states has increased in recent years. Some believe, in line with realism, that this interest can be explained by fear of spill-over effects. Since the second half of the 1990s, ODA to fragile states has been considerably less than to other low-income countries, and its disbursement has been unstable and volatile. Guinea-Bissau, one of the few countries currently classified as both a small and fragile state, has also been designed as a “poor performer,” “difficult partnership country” and an “empty state.” Guinea-Bissau experienced an aid-shock followed by military unrest and later uprising. In the aftermath of the conflict, the country became a hub for the Columbian mafia’s narco traffic en route to Europe. The study is based on semi-structured interviews and participant observation with representatives of international organizations, diplomats and journalists. Data was gathered pending ten weeks of fieldwork during and after the 2009 presidential elections in Guinea-Bissau. The aim of the presentation is to examine the opinion of the representatives of the international community in Bissau on the ability of the country to perform democratic elections, on the importance of democratic elections for democracy and the motives behind their presence in Guinea-Bissau will also be explored.
