The Failed State Index, 2012

Taken From: Foreign Policy. 2011. http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/06/17/2011_failed_states_index_interactive_map_and_rankings

What makes a country a “failed state?”

Definition of a “state.”

• Set of institutions that successfully create and implement policy over a specific geographic area.

• Monopoly on the use of force/violence within a defined territory.

• Institutions and government are sovereign.

Strong Weak Failing Failed

Somalia

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Sudan

Chad

Zimbabwe

Failed States Index, 2012

• Nigeria 14th 101.1• Iran 34th 89.6

• China 76th 78.3• Russia 83rd 77.1• Mexico 98th 73.6• UK 158th 35.3• U.S. 159th 34.8

• Finland 177th 20.0

Failed States Methodology & U.S. Score

• Demographic Pressures 3.3• Refugees and IDPs 2.6• Group Grievance 3.9• Human Flight/Brain Drain 1.3• Uneven Economic Development 5.1• Poverty and Economic Decline 3.4• State legitimacy 2.6• Public Services 2.7• Human Rights/Rule of Law 3.5• Security Apparatus 1.9• Factionalized Elites 3.6• External Intervention 1.0

“Think Again: Failed States”

• Some can be helped if they are willing to be helped.– Ruthless leaders often prevent.

• Military intervention: sometimes appropriate.– Can remove despots.

• Some states were born to fail.– State boundaries drawn by imperialists (Africa).– Combine multiple ethnicities

“Think Again: Failed States”

• Imperialism and the West: sometimes a factor– Congo: Belgium brutalized people and stripped

resources.– Afghanistan: victim of the Cold War

• Imperialism and the West: sometimes not– Haiti: 200 years since France– Iraq: Initially succeeded after colonization

• Some are ungoverned: Somalia (hapless)• Some are misgoverned: Pakistan/Sudan– Self-destructive policies

Economic Development Strategies

• Import Substitution:– Stimulate domestic industries with tariffs and

other trade barriers.– “substitute imports” with domestic goods.

• Structural Adjustment:– Integrate into global markets through globalization– Currently emphasized by World Bank and

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

International Financial Institutions

• World Bank– Gives loans and grants to LDCs– Countries contributing the most have the most

influence.• International Monetary Fund– Promotes international monetary cooperation and

currency stability.– Loans based on “conditionality.”• Structural adjustment and other conditions.

THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION

• 153 countries• Emphasis on FREE trade• Create and administer trade agreements.

Microcredit

• Lending and development strategy• Small loans for citizens in LDCs.– Injects credit into struggling economy.– Originated in Bangladesh• Grameen Bank (“rural bank”)

– Overwhelmingly granted to women