The Failed States Index

Every year for the last few years, the Fund for Peace has produced a Failed States Index, which they use to measure a country's stability.

The 2010 edition can be found here:

http://www.fundforpeace.org/web/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=99&Itemid=140

UK doesn't make the bottom of the list. That's not surprising. It's also not that suprising that Finland, Norway and Sweden make up the top three, or that four major Anglosphere countries are in the bottom category. What IS a little suprising is that the UK doesn't make the bottom category. According to the guys at the Fund for Peace, we are a moderate, rather than a sustainable, nation. I'm assuming that the borderline is 30 points which means we need to lose 3.6 points to drop down into the sustainable category.

Another suprising this is how low down North Korea is - I'd have expected it to be in the top 10, but it comes in at number 17. Given the country's secretive nature, though, I don't really see how anyone from outside North Korea can give a truly accurate assessment of it's stability.

The UK gets it's highest score in "Uneven Economic Development along Group Lines", an assessment which I assume is based on the well known gap between rich and poor, one which has probably gotten worse over the last couple of years, and it's lowest score in "Chronic and Sustained Human Flight", in which it makes the bottom 10.