The 2009 Failed States Index is out. Somalia wins, or rather, fails. As the reports says, "In short, Somalia was too failed even for al Qaeda."
A joint effort from The Fund for Peace, an independent research organization, and Foreign Policy magazine, it looks at which states are on the brink -- and on their way to the brink.
This from Foreign Policy's intro to the study:
-- Luke Allnutt
A joint effort from The Fund for Peace, an independent research organization, and Foreign Policy magazine, it looks at which states are on the brink -- and on their way to the brink.
This from Foreign Policy's intro to the study:
After all, as Tolstoy might have put it, every failing state is failing in its own way. Georgia, for example, jumped 23 places in this year’s index due to a substantial spike in that elusive indicator, “Invaded by Russia.” Somalia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are failing because their governments are chronically weak to nonexistent; Zimbabwe and Burma are failing because their governments are strong enough to choke the life out of their societies. Iraq is failing, but its trajectory may be toward greater success, while Haiti is failing as well, and it is hard to imagine success around the corner.
-- Luke Allnutt