Failed States

List of Failed States articles

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627425_rothkopf_credit-istockphoto.jpg

Are All States Failing States?

Every unstable country is unstable in its own way.

ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP/Getty Images
ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP/Getty Images

The Watch List

Predicting state failure isn't as hard as you think.

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627453_120611_Failed_Ibish_lead_EPA00000403213073.jpg

Was the Arab Spring Worth It?

The people of the Middle East have paid a steep price to overthrow their dictators.

10 Reasons Countries Fall Apart

States don't fail overnight. The seeds of of their destruction are sown deep within their political institutions.

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627047_120615_worstchart.jpg

How Bad Is Bad?

Although the 10 worst failed states don’t necessarily suffer from the same problems, they do share one thing in common: a miserable quality of life for most of their people. And when they’re stacked up against the United States, the meaning of “failure” is devastatingly clear.

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627141_120614_Failed_Worst_EPA_03130345.jpg

The Worst of the Worst

From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, see which countries fared worst across 12 indicators.

HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP/Getty Images
HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP/Getty Images

States of Change

Which countries gained and declined the most in this year's Failed States Index?

Matt Cardy/Getty Images
Matt Cardy/Getty Images

The Undeveloping World

The Eurozone's weakest have taken a hit in the latest Failed States Index.

MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP/Getty Images
MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP/Getty Images

Dark Crystal

Why didn't anyone predict the Arab revolutions?

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553099_fs_patrick_836430042.jpg

The Brutal Truth

Failed states are mainly a threat to their own inhabitants. We should help them anyway.

Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images
Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images

12 Degrees of Failure

How does a weak state become a failed state?

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567765_100619_Somalia_image2.jpg

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.

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567892_100620_FS_chinamap2.jpg

Money Can Buy Love

China isn't just investing in minerals, oil, and other raw goods -- it's buying diplomatic favors and loyalty, too. Chinese investment by region, 2005-2009, in billions of dollars:

MASSOUD HOSSAINI/AFP/Getty Images
MASSOUD HOSSAINI/AFP/Getty Images

Actually, It’s Mountains

Sometimes the toughest obstacles are the naturally occurring ones.

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567898_100617_1016847662.jpg

Who Else Is to Blame?

From security short falls to lack of government accountibility, Mo Ibrahim, Paul Wolfowitz, Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin, Bruce Babbitt, and Raymond C. Offenheiser explain those contributing factors that cripple societies and inevitably keep failed states failing.

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