For the fourth straight year, Somalia has been deemed the number oneinternational state that has failed the test of being a viable society capable of peace, stability and social, human and economic development. What is more, according to the analysis of the Fund for Peace, the non-profit organisation responsible for compiling the annual index, Somalia, situated in the northeast (the Horn of Africa), "is in no danger of losing its position anytime soon." For 20 years there has effectively been no central government in Somalia, with war lords slaughtering each other and tens of thousands of innocent people, whose only desire was to live safe and healthy lives.
Now the United Nations has declared Somalia to be on the brink of widespread famine with little hope of avoiding additional and widespread deprivation of a kind unimaginable here. Other African countries such as Chad, Sudan and Congo are also once again close to the top of the table of failed states. But this phenomenon of non-functional states is not merely an African phenomenon. Ranking fifth, and not surprisingly, is Caricom member state Haiti. And it should be noted that the fifth position is a decline from that country's 11th position in the 2010 index. That means therefore that right here in the region in a central Caribbean country, the slide into desperation is going ahead.
A country's position in the index is determined by phenomenon such as widespread lawlessness, ineffective government, terrorist activity taking place in the country, insurgency from outside, crime and abysmal development activities and prospects for the people of the country. With a sense of relief, the majority of the rest of Caribbean and Caricom countries are nowhere close to the top of endangered states. This country has held on to its 124th place amongst the 177 states ranked. And so too have countries such as Barbados, The Bahamas, Antigua, Grenada, Jamaica, Belize, Suriname and Guyana, and the rest have more or less maintained their positions within the 100 states deemed to be fairly stable and prosperous.
However, Cuba, Honduras, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic, the latter next door to Haiti, are below the 100 mark where the shades get increasingly close to the danger red indicating "trouble round the corner." At the top of the rankings are western European countries such as Finland, Norway, Sweden and others. The US is not in the green band of states in absolutely good health. Nonetheless, the US is in the yellow band alongside the likes of Britain, France, Japan and others which are very comfortably situated as well-ordered and prosperous countries. Forms of political conflict, health conditions, lawlessness and extremely difficult criminal situations attend the Caribbean countries closer to the condition red in the index.
As difficult as the economic conditions in the region are coming out of the two-year economic recession felt across the globe, the far greater dangers for Caribbean states seeking to get closer to the green and yellow bands of stability and prosperity are the issues of crime, increasing institutional weakness and corruption-saturated regimes. These are characteristics which could easily destroy sustainability and continuing development and are very present everywhere in the Caribbean. For instance, governments in the region have not really been able to take a firm hold on the gang warfare culture, the drugs and weapons trade, all of which have had a debilitating impact on young people especially. So while this country and most of the English-speaking Caribbean are at present not in danger of becoming failed states, there are phenomenon present which could easily change the status on the index.