August 15, 2011
By Nate Haken
Foreign Policy Magazine

Let me be clear. We are not saying that Pakistan is a “failed state.” This index does not make that determination. Rather, it identifies pressures on states that put them at risk of failure, unless the state institutions are sufficiently professional, representative, and legitimate to deal effectively with those pressures.

The point of the Failed States Index is to provide a tool by which all stakeholders, including government, civil society, and the private sector, can clearly see which social, economic, and political/security indicators are exhibiting the most stress, so that everyone can work together for sustainable security and conflict-sensitive development over the long term. Every country in the world has a risk profile. Some states are under more pressure than others. And as the Minister points out in his letter, the state of Pakistan is under enormous pressure, which accounts for its ranking in our Index.

Broadcast July 24, 2011
With J. J. Messner
C-SPAN

J.J. Messner talked about the series of articles in the July/August 2011 edition of Foreign Policy magazine, including the 2011 Failed States Index, and his article, "States of Change" on which countries gained and declined the most in this year's Failed States Index. He also responded to telephone calls and electronic communications.

Broadcast July 20, 2011
With J. J. Messner
Voice of America

VOA's Paul Ndiho talks to The Fund for Peace's J.J. Messner in his two-part report on failed African states.

June 29, 2011
By Admiral Michael Mullen
The Failed States Index Launch Event

Transcript of speech presented to the Failed States Index 2011 Launch Event by Admiral Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. on June 29, 2011.

June 29, 2011
By J. J. Messner
The Failed States Index Launch Event

Transcript of speech presented to the Failed States Index 2011 Launch Event by J. J. Messner, Senior Associate at The Fund for Peace, at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. on June 29, 2011.

June 20, 2011
News from The Fund for Peace

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Fund for Peace today released the seventh edition of its annual Failed States Index (FSI), highlighting global political, economic and social pressures experienced by states. Foreign Policy magazine, which collaborates on the FSI with The Fund for Peace, has feature articles based on the FSI in its issue released June 20.

The 2011 FSI ranks Somalia as number one for the fourth consecutive year, citing widespread lawlessness, ineffective government, terrorism, insurgency, crime, and well-publicized pirate attacks against foreign vessels.

Finland has displaced Norway from the best position for the first time. Slight fluctuations in demographic and economic indicators, though minimal, lowered Norway’s scores, allowing Finland, with continued its stability, to slip in front of its Nordic neighbor.

We are pleased to present the seventh annual Failed States Index. The FSI focuses on the indicators of risk and is based on thousands of articles and reports that are processed by our CAST Software from electronically available sources.

We encourage others to utilize the Failed States Index to develop ideas for promoting greater stability worldwide. We hope the Index will spur conversations, encourage debate, and most of all help guide strategies for sustainable security.

Published June 20, 2011
Publication CR-11-14-FS
Report available in PDF and Flash formats

The Failed States Index, produced by The Fund for Peace, is a critical tool in highlighting not only the normal pressures that all states experience, but also in identifying when those pressures are pushing a state towards the brink of failure. By highlighting pertinent issues in weak and failing states, The Failed States Index—and the social science framework and software application upon which it is built—makes political risk assessment and early warning of conflict accessible to policy-makers and the public at large.

June 20, 2011
By J. J. Messner
The Failed States Index

If the Failed States Index were a championship, then Somalia would be the undisputed four-time champion (or cellar-dweller, depending on how you look at it). In the seven years of the Failed States Index, Somalia has had the ignominious distinction of occupying the worst spot for the past four years straight. Despite having a relatively functional and pretty much autonomous ‘state’ in the north, Somaliland, the country as a whole still manages to score badly enough to make up for that glimmer of unrecognized hope. Worse still, the country is in no danger of losing its position anytime soon. A combination of widespread lawlessness, ineffective government, terrorism, insurgency, crime, abysmal development and a penchant for inconveniencing the rest of the world by taking their merchant vessels hostage has given Somalia a score that – much as they seem to try – neither Chad, Sudan, Zimbabwe nor the Democratic Republic of Congo can hope to match.

June 20, 2011
By Kristen Blandford, Annie Janus and Kendall Lawrence
The Failed States Index

1. Somalia

On this year’s Failed States Index, Somalia scored as the worst offender for Refugees and IDPs, Economic Decline, Human rights and Security Apparatus. The absence of a permanent national government for almost twenty years has led to ongoing civil violence, economic hardship, poor social conditions, and the displacement of several million Somali citizens. It has become increasingly difficult for international agencies to provide aid to Somalia in light of the recent troubles with piracy and hostility towards foreigners. An upsurge of civil violence in the southern part of the nation has created further destabilization and threatens any potential improvements to Somalia’s condition.

June 20, 2011
By J. J. Messner
The Failed States Index

The collapse of the Presidential Palace on Port-au-Prince after the January 2010 earthquake was sadly symbolic of the overall collapse of the Haitian state’s capacity to deal with that disaster, a lack of capacity that had become endemic across all aspects of Haiti’s governance. Though the exact figures are disputed, the earthquake claimed between 80,000 and 300,000 lives and displaced countless hundreds of thousands of Haitians. In the weeks and months following the disaster, scenes of human suffering poured out of Haiti, capturing the attention of the international community.

Though the 2010 earthquake clearly contributed significantly to Haiti’s poor score in this year’s Failed States Index, it should be understood that the country was hardly starting from a position of strength. Indeed, though Haiti shot to 5th on the 2011 Failed States Index, it ranked not much better in 11th position last year.

June 20, 2011
By J. J. Messner
The Failed States Index

It is less than three years since Russia attacked Georgia, ostensibly over the disputed regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. In the 2009 Failed States Index, Georgia ranked 33rd and into the Alert category. Though the country has definitely performed better in the past (ranking as well as 60th in 2006), the fact that it has rebounded to 47th in this year’s Index is somewhat remarkable. Even more remarkable, Georgia is this year’s most improved nation in the 2011 Failed States Index, having improved by 10 positions and by a score of 4.0.

As Georgia and Russia moved away from conflict, and as relations between the government in Tbilisi and its separatist regions stabilized, this reversal of hostilities — both internal and external — are reflected in the country’s scores. The Demographic Pressures and Group Grievance scores have improved by 0.4 points each; the other two social indicators (Refugees/IDPs and Brain Drain) have also marginally improved. Similarly, the External Intervention indicator, which reached a high point of 9.5 in 2009 as a result of the Russian incursion, has now settled back to 8.5—although this is not a good score by any means, it marks a significant improvement of 1.0 points in just 2 years.

June 20, 2011
By Annie Janus
The Failed States Index

With much of the world’s attention turned to the Arab Spring, Kyrgyzstan’s 2010 revolution seems to have been forgotten. Nevertheless, Kyrgyzstan’s politically tumultuous year has seen it worsen significantly in the Failed States Index, moving from 45th position to a more serious 31st, and into the Alert category.

Kyrgyzstan’s worsening in this year’s index reflects dramatic reversals in several scores that tend to indicate the state’s susceptibility to internal conflict, and as such, these worsening scores are largely are result of the 2010 revolutions.

June 20, 2011
By J. J. Messner and Melody Knight
The Failed States Index

From the earthquake in Haiti to the volcano in Iceland, 2010 was a big year for natural disasters. Over a quarter million people were killed last year, and millions displaced, as a result of blizzards, droughts, earthquakes, floods, heat waves, landslides, and super typhoons, making it the deadliest year in more than a generation. These disasters claimed the lives of over 290,000 people in 2010, compared with just 11,000 in 2009, according to Munich Re.

Though conflict and poverty tend to be the domain of countries at the worst end of the Failed States Index, natural disasters are non-discriminating, terrorizing the “rich” and “poor” alike. But their actual effect can be particularly damaging for developing states. Poor infrastructure and urban crowding maximize fatalities and disrupt the ability to provide service to survivors. Displacement can also exacerbate existing tensions between groups and strains on supplies.

June 20, 2011
By Nate Haken
The Failed States Index

After having contracted by 0.5% in 2009, global GDP is now very much in recovery mode, with growth of around 5% in 2010. However, this does not mean smooth sailing either for developing or developed countries. In the last year there have been massive protests against governments’ economic stewardship in countries as disparate as Greece and Burkina Faso, illustrating the sobering truth that under certain conditions recovery can be even more destabilizing than recession.

In 2009, economies in the developed world took a nosedive, as debt crises spread like wildfire, hopping through the Eurozone from Iceland, to Ireland, to Greece, and Portugal. Looking ahead, people are now turning their concern toward Spain. All of these countries, whether or not they have been, or will be, bailed out to stabilize their economies, are facing the necessity of austerity measures to prevent such crises from repeating themselves in the future. These austerity measures are being imposed as economies are now deemed strong enough to withstand them. Nevertheless, they have sparked protests, which have sometimes turned violent. Meanwhile, the recovering global economy is contributing to rising food and fuel prices, which have sparked massive protests and military crackdowns in Mozambique, Uganda, and Burkina Faso.