Is it fair to rank 'failed' states?
(Read article summary)Media outlets and think tanks like rankings because they inspire debate, but ranking failed states based on perceived failings is irresponsible, writes a guest blogger.
• A version of this post ran on the author's blog, bloggingsbyboz.com. The views expressed are the author's own.
Foreign Policy published the annual Failed States Index along with its "Postcards from Hell" that show pictures from each of the worst 60.
In terms of this hemisphere, Haiti is in the top 10 most failed states in the world. Colombia and Bolivia both make the "critical" level. My analysis is that Honduras and Venezuela are both far worse than Colombia or Bolivia, but that's a separate issue.
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Two solid critiques of the index have been published in Foreign Policy itself by the authors of the Africa is a Country blog as well as the Guardian. From the Guardian:
