Failed States

Reality Check: How Bad Are They?

Worlds apart in language, culture, and daily routine, the top failed states still share a quality of life that is at best difficult and at worst fatal for the majority of the population.

By
567765_100619_Somalia_image2.jpg
567765_100619_Somalia_image2.jpg

MOHAMED DAHIR/AFP/GETTY

Antonin Kratochvil / VII Network

Robin Hammond/PANOS

 

SHAH/MARAI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

SAFIN HAMED/AFP/Getty Images

SPENCER PLATT/GETTY IMAGES

GEORGES GOBET/AFP/GETTY

BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

LEE CELANO/Getty Images

KAMBOU SIA/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

NEXT: Watch List: 4 Countries in Big Trouble

Andrew Swift is an editorial researcher at Foreign Policy.
Read More On Afghanistan | Corruption | Economics | Geopolitics | Human Rights | Iraq | Natural Disasters | Pakistan | Somalia

Latest

What to Know as COP28 Begins

The Man Who Conned the World

Does Democracy Really Die in Darkness?

Confusion and Ambition Caused the My Lai Atrocities

What Ridley Scott’s ‘Napoleon’ Gets Wrong About War
See All Stories

Editors’ Picks

  1. 1
    The Inevitable Fall of Putin’s New Russian Empire
  2. 2
    What Ridley Scott’s ‘Napoleon’ Gets Wrong About War
  3. 3
    Chinese Hospitals Are Housing Another Deadly Outbreak

More from Foreign Policy

The USS Nimitz and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and South Korean Navy warships sail in formation during a joint naval exercise off the South Korean coast.
The USS Nimitz and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and South Korean Navy warships sail in formation during a joint naval exercise off the South Korean coast.

America Is a Heartbeat Away From a War It Could Lose

Global war is neither a theoretical contingency nor the fever dream of hawks and militarists.

A protester waves a Palestinian flag in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, during a demonstration calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. People sit and walk on the grass lawn in front of the protester and barricades.
A protester waves a Palestinian flag in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, during a demonstration calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. People sit and walk on the grass lawn in front of the protester and barricades.

The West’s Incoherent Critique of Israel’s Gaza Strategy

The reality of fighting Hamas in Gaza makes this war terrible one way or another.

Biden dressed in a dark blue suit walks with his head down past a row of alternating U.S. and Israeli flags.
Biden dressed in a dark blue suit walks with his head down past a row of alternating U.S. and Israeli flags.

Biden Owns the Israel-Palestine Conflict Now

In tying Washington to Israel’s war in Gaza, the U.S. president now shares responsibility for the broader conflict’s fate.

U.S. President Joe Biden is seen in profile as he greets Chinese President Xi Jinping with a handshake. Xi, a 70-year-old man in a dark blue suit, smiles as he takes the hand of Biden, an 80-year-old man who also wears a dark blue suit.
U.S. President Joe Biden is seen in profile as he greets Chinese President Xi Jinping with a handshake. Xi, a 70-year-old man in a dark blue suit, smiles as he takes the hand of Biden, an 80-year-old man who also wears a dark blue suit.

Taiwan’s Room to Maneuver Shrinks as Biden and Xi Meet

As the latest crisis in the straits wraps up, Taipei is on the back foot.

Trending

  1. What Ridley Scott’s ‘Napoleon’ Gets Wrong About War
    Review
    Franz-Stefan Gady

  2. Chinese Hospitals Are Housing Another Deadly Outbreak
    Argument
    Annie Sparrow

  3. The Inevitable Fall of Putin’s New Russian Empire
    Analysis
    Alexander J. Motyl

  4. Henry Kissinger, Colossus on the World Stage
    Obituary
    Michael Hirsh

  5. Does Democracy Really Die in Darkness?
    Review
    Bronwen Everill