Hi zipdog, when such an article is published, it should (if you're doing real work/research in this area) be interpreted as X is one of hypothesized significant

Hi zipdog, when such an article is published, it should (if you're doing real work/research in this area) be interpreted as X is one of hypothesized significant causes of Y. X is often a new finding, or an old hypothesis with new support, or with new relevance. There's little reason to think the author meant it literally, given the extensive literature (just search any journal) on how and why states fail, and it is both sensible and charitable to assume the authors at The Economist are well-educated and do their background research (: In fact, you'll find that this is a popular style in economics and business articles.