The Failed States Index was
first introduced in the July/August 2005 issue of Foreign Policy magazine. The second FSI was published in the May/June issue. Click here to go to Foreign Policy’s website to view the articles. In 2005, we rated 75 countries, and in 2006, we expanded the Index to include 148 countries.
The index is compiled using the Fund for Peace’s internationally recognized methodology, the Conflict Assessment System Tool (CAST). It assesses violent internal conflicts and measures the impact of mitigating strategies. In addition to rating indicators of state failure that drive conflict, it offers techniques for assessing the capacities of core state institutions and analyzing trends in state instability.
The list is quite compelling; check out numbers four and ten in particular. Didn’t see that coming, did you? :-p
