Eleonora Mazza & Alejandra Yepes

Failed States Index

What is a Failed State?

According to the Fund for Peace, it is a state which

has failed at accomplishing the

following basic conditions and responsibilities of a

government.

-Loss of control -Disintegration of authority for making decisions-Inability to provide public basic services-Inability to interact with other states

The Foreign Policy Magazine has been publishing the Failed States Index since 2005. Each of the top 20 countries listed, has been in the index for the last 7 years.

What is a Failed State?

What is the Fund for Peace?

Independent, non-profit organizationIts purpose is to prevent violent conflict and promote securitySecurity:• Research, training, education, infrastructure (in different fields),

developing technologiesViolent conflict: • Problems related to a failing state

The FFP uses:

-Content analysis (electronic scanning)

-Quantitative data

-Qualitative input

Steps:

1. Download documents about articles, magazines, government reports, and non government, etc.

2. Use of electronic scanning, collection of data

3. Incorporation of quantitative data from the World Bank, and other reliable sources

4. Comparison of the results with insights from a separate qualitative review of each indicator for each country.

5. These methods are considered as internal checks, additional data is normalized and scaled from 0-10 in order to have final scores for 12 social, economic, and political/military indicators for 177 countries.

Components used to calculate de Index

Ranking bottom 101. Somalia2.Democratic Republic of Congo3.Sudan4.Chad5.Zimbabwe6.Afghanistan7.Haiti8.Yemen9.Irak10.Central African Republic

According to the criteria used for determining whether a state is categorized as failed or not, we consider that the top 5 states that occupy those positions are because of: poverty of the state, no political/social strong authority, insufficient infrastructure, inequality of distribution of basic public services.

• Uninterrupted Violence

• Long term civil war

• Loss of life due to civil war

• Reconstruction needed

• No progress

Somalia, “plethora of woes happening”

Democratic Republic of Congo• The poorest country on earth with 300 USD per year per head,

according to a 2011 Human Development Index ranking• Corrupt leaders• Dysfunctional army

• Very few improvements

• Large-scale instability in its political, social, and economic realms

• South Sudan’s secession

Chad• Civil wars

• A huge number of displaced people and refugees

• High mortality rate of children younger than 5 (underweight)

• Corruption

Sudan

• Exclusion of black Zimbabweans, which form the vast majority of the population, from the private sector

• Opposition movements which led to new enemies of the state

Zimbabwe

Ranking Top 5 173 . Norway174 . Switzerland 175. Denmark176. Sweden 177 . Finland

Venezuela= 82 United States= 159

• Finland is the only state deemed ‘very sustainable’, with the risk of conflicts and collapse lowest in comparison with all other nations

• Economically and politically well developed

• Rich country

• Socially cohesive, not as the US

• Very good quality (inequality in the US)

Switzerland• Good public services

• Good infrastructure

• Good interaction with other states

Finland

• " What Makes a Failed State? Examining the Case of Zimbabwe." e-International Relations — the world's leading website for students of international politics . N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2012. <http://www.e-ir.info/2012/05/31/what-makes-a-failed-state-examining-the-case-of-zimbabwe/>.

• "Finland is the least failed state in the world, report finds." Helsinki Times. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2012. <http://www.helsinkitimes.fi/news/index.php/finland/finland-news/domestic/3289-finland-is-the-least-failed-state-in-the-world-report-finds>.

• "Georgianne Nienaber: Why the Democratic Republic of Congo Is a Failed State." Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2012. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/georgianne-nienaber/why-the-democratic-republ_b_1676305.html>.

• Harper, Mary. "BBC News - Somalia: Failed state or fantasy land? ." BBC - Homepage. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2012. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19099442>.

• "Sudan among world’s top failed states: report - Sudan Tribune: Plural news and views on Sudan." Sudan Tribune: Plural news and views on Sudan. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2012. <http://www.sudantribune.com/Sudan-among-world-s-top-failed,42975>.

• "The 2011 Failed States Index | Foreign Policy." Foreign Policy - the global magazine of economics, politics, and ideas. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2012. <http://www.foreignpolicy.com/failedstates>.

• "The 2012 Failed States Index - Interactive Map and Rankings | Foreign Policy." Foreign Policy - the global magazine of economics, politics, and ideas . N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2012. <http://www.foreignpolicy.com/failed_states_in>.

• "The Failed States Index: Frequently Asked Questions | The Fund for Peace." FFP | The Fund for Peace. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2012. <http://www.fundforpeace.org/global/?q=fsi-faq>.

Bibliography