Foreign Policy recently published its 2010 Failed States Index. Perhaps not surprisingly Africa on the whole does not do well. Of the bottom 20 slots, Africa has twelve, including the dubious honor of a clean sweep of the worst five, as well as slots 21 through 23. That’s right — Somalia, Chad, Sudan, Zimbabwe, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo all come in worse than Afghanistan.
My only quibble is with the inclusion of Kenya, which seems to be paying the hangover price for its 2007-2008 election violence, at an absurd 13. Kenya is no model of good governance and stability, but a good number of the states that rank “better” (on a list that on which no state wants to be included) are certainly not in better shape than Kenya. With the new constitution, expect Kenya to make a huge leap for the better next year.
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