When the Center Cannot Hold: Anatomy of a State Losing Control

The chaos in Nepal is a vivid illustration of a state losing its grip, a moment when “the center cannot hold.” The government, weakened by its own corruption and failure to address economic grievances, found that its authority was a hollow shell, which shattered with the first serious challenge.
The erosion of the state’s authority was a long and gradual process. It was chipped away by a 20% youth unemployment rate that severed the connection between the young and the nation’s future. It was corroded by a constant drip of corruption scandals that dissolved the public’s respect for its institutions. It was weakened by the glaring inequality that made the government seem like a foreign entity.
By the time the government decided to act, its reserves of political capital and public goodwill were already depleted. It was ruling by inertia, not by consent. The decision to ban social media was a desperate attempt to assert authority it no longer truly possessed.
This move was the challenge that revealed the state’s weakness. The public, already alienated and angry, simply refused to comply. The government’s decree was met with mass defiance, and the ensuing violence was not a sign of the state’s power, but of its collapse. It was the moment the center finally gave way.