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Achieving the status of “failed state” or state collapse” places a country in a unique category among the world’s most dangerous and broken nations. The Foreign Policy Failed State Index for 2009 is a global survey of a series of conditions—demographic pressures, the status of refugees, group grievances, human flight, uneven development, economic decline, human rights, and security—that identifies the world’s most “failed states” in order of critical conditions. Atop this year’s list is Somalia—a state considered the weakest and most fragmented.
Other states considered critical are Zimbabwe, Sudan, Chad, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The regional pattern cannot be ignored—African countries occupy the first five positions followed by the Middle Eastern countries of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
The term “failed state” is highly debated in international affairs as it is a relatively vague as well as loaded term to identify anarchic states. The definition of a failed state varies, but there is a general consensus that a failed state is unable to provide basic services to its people; security and poverty are part of daily struggles.
States in collapse are severely vulnerable to terrorist networks, violence, poverty, government fractionalization, and, in the case of Somalia, even piracy. The depth of suffering of the people of a failed state is so severe that the path toward recovery is often seen as completely elusive. The struggles back from “critical” status as a failed state are a monumental task, rife with seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
There is no agreed upon global list of failed states, but the inclusion of a few states—Somalia and Zimbabwe—cannot be argued because of the tremendous violence, civil unrest, and poverty that ravages them. This news briefing focuses on these failed states, the two most critical according to the Failed State Index for 2009.
Somalia: The World’s Weakest State
 Somalia is comprised of a former British protectorate and an Italian colony that was formed into a nation-state in 1960 when the two territories merged. In 1970, Somalia was declared a socialist state and pursued close relations with the Soviet Union during the Cold War years. With the help of Soviet arms and other monetary support, Somalia tried to seize the Ogaden region of neighboring Ethiopia, although was defeated by Ethiopia and its Cuban allies.1 Somalia and Ethiopia continue to battle over territory and influence.
By 1991, the then-current president, President Barre, was overthrown by opposing clans and the country soon spiraled into chaos, a chaos that has not subsided. The opposing clans failed to agree on a replacement for the president, which lead the country further into turmoil. It was several years until a conference in Djibouti where clan elders and senior figures appointed a new president, Abdulkassim Salat Hassan, and formed a transitional government. However, the administration quickly proved itself incapable and made little progress in unifying the warring militias and divergent clans.
Again, in 2004, Somali warlords and politicians set up a new Parliament, which later appointed another president. As seen in recent years, each successive administration has been no different and unable to provide political cohesion to this warring state.
An unfortunate fact remains— after fourteen attempts since 1991 to form a functional government, good governance has remained elusive.
Internal Struggles of Ideology
An outpouring of ideological battles and an Islamic fundamentalist insurgency have compounded the lack of government structure in Somalia. The ungovernable badlands of southern Somalia, an area that encompasses the capital Mogadishu, have fallen under the control of radical Islamists. The Islamist insurgents include the Al-Shabab group, which the US accuses of having direct and substantial links to al-Qaeda.2
The Shabab group, meaning “Youth militia” and “the lads” in Somali, looks to al-Qaeda for inspiration and material assistance to overrun regions of Somalia. The US has not shied away from battling the Shabab in Somalia reportedly killing Saleh Ali Nabhan, a leader of Yemeni descent who had been suspected of an al-Qaeda attack on a hotel in a Kenyan port in 2002.3
The Shabab seeks to dismantle the transition government and its Ethiopian allies as well as the United Nation Peacemaking Mission stationed there. Alongside the Shabab is another fraction of Somali opposition stationed in bordering Eritrea. The Shabab disregards these opponents and accuses them of being too secular. As such, the Shabab retains a strict interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia, in which women who refuse to wear the hijab, or head covering, are not permitted to leave their homes. Additionally, amputations and stoning to death of mentally disabled persons is permitted.4 Sharia also dictates that every citizen in Somalia is born a Muslim and anyone who converts to another religion is punishable by death.
As a result of this strict interpretation of Muslim law, Christians have suffered persecution in Somalia. Among the eight million Somalis, there are one million Christians living in the country and perhaps a million more in the diaspora.5 Catching and killing Christians is part of the Shabab’s propaganda campaign. Furthermore, the weak transitional government is loath to protect the Christian population so that the discrimination continues to abound.
Also of consequence is the fact that Somalia ranks lowest on the latest Corruption Perception Index, a measure provided by Transparency International. Somalia achieved a miserable score of 1.0 out of 10.
Somalis Turn to Options outside the Law
Due to the statelessness on-shore, piracy has flourished offshore. The International Maritime Bureau’s Piracy Reporting Centre (PRC) records that 111 out of the 293 incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships that took place in 2008 occurred off the coast of Somalia, a staggering 38 percent of total incidences. In 2009, there have been instances of piracy against Chinese, Spanish, US and British maritime vessels among others. Every year, an estimated 16,000 vessels pass through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden both in and out-bound traveling toward the Suez Canal.6
Elusive Economic Growth for Somalia
While the U.S. has a per capita GDP of $46,900, Somalia has a per capita GDP of $600. The United States’ economy is approximately 78 times larger than its Somali counterpart.7
The formal economy in Somalia has offered little incentive and opportunity to the people. Instead, there is a negligible informal economy based loosely on livestock, money transfer companies, and telecommunications. The economy is almost exclusively concentrated in agriculture since Somalia has very few skilled workers in its labor force. Agricultural exports are mainly bananas, sorghum, corn, coconuts, rice, and sugarcane.8 Nonetheless, all statistics about Somalia’s economy are viewed skeptically since the lack of government structure makes hard evidence difficult to obtain.
As an alternative, many Somalis have turned to piracy. In risking legal action against them, many believe they have very little to lose and much to gain. Undoubtedly, Somalia is seeking desperate measures to combat the devastating battle against poverty and violent sectarianism. To many Somalis, piracy is a measure for survival—the only job available. Modern piracy in Somalia is an indication of a deep-rooted struggle of a people. Although the pirates must undeniably be brought to justice, the international community must bear in mind addressing the wider issue of statelessness in Somalia so that young and old Somalis alike will not feel condemned to a life of piracy and crime.
Piracy often thought of as a centuries-old endeavor of swashbuckling seamen, has become a modern business rooted in desperation. (Click here to learn more about the piracy problems plaguing the region.)
Zimbabwe: Simultaneous Political and Economic Crises
 Robert Mugabe and Political Failure
On November 23, 2009 President Obama laid forth his toughest comments to date toward President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe. President Obama bluntly referred to President Mugabe as a dictator.9 The US President stated, “In the end, history has a clear direction, and it is not the way of those who arrest women and babies for singing on the streets.”
Robert Mugabe has been the leader of Zimbabwe, formerly Rhodesia, since its inception in 1980. The 2008 elections brought new violence and instability to Zimbabwe. Mugabe, who had officially lost in the March 2008 election to opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai in terms of number of votes, refused to cede power, leading to widespread, state-sponsored post-election violence. As a result, Tsvangirai reluctantly agreed to a power-sharing agreement and to fill the role of Prime Minister alongside President Mugabe.
Mr. Mugabe has been deploying forces to arrest and jail rival politicians, human rights lawyers, and other dissidents. Earlier in November 2009, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai announced a boycott of all cabinet meetings, laying out major grievances toward the Mugabe government. This was a major setback for the weak transitional government.
Samantha Power, an academic at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, has stated that Mugabe has “killed” Zimbabwe, by destroying its economy, burying the truth, crushing all dissent, teaching hate, and effectively scaring off foreigners.10
Zimbabwean Economic Conditions
Zimbabawe’s GDP per capita is even smaller than Somalia, with just $200 per person.
Basic public services—namely water and sanitation, public schools, and hospitals—remain elusive for Zimbabweans. A cholera epidemic that broke out in August 2008 also ravaged the country killing more than 780.11
Early in 2008 Zimbabwe suffered astronomical inflation rates—rates over 100,000 percent. The economy has spiraled deeper and deeper into a dangerous crisis. For the past decade, Zimbabweans have also been suffering from tremendous capital flight, massive migration of skilled and unskilled labor, and a severe deterioration of standards of living. It was reported as early as 2007 that Zimbabwe was closer than ever to a complete economic collapse with chronic food shortages in the wake of Western sanctions intended to weaken the regime of Robert Mugabe.12
The International Crisis Group reports that four out of five Zimbabweans live in abject poverty and that four million others have fled to neighboring countries as refugees.13 Foreign reserves are almost completely depleted, unemployment is estimated at over 85 percent, poverty at over 90 percent, and malnutrition and HIV/AIDS continue to be overwhelming killers.
Human Rights and an Envoy Dismissed
On October 29, 2009 Manfred Novak, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Torture, was barred from entering the state. The international community was outraged. The special envoy stated that he had a meeting planned with Prime Minister Tsvangirai about the alleged attacks on Tsvangirai’s supporters during the 2008 election by militants from Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party. However, upon arrival to Zimbabwe, Mr. Novak was not allowed to enter the country.
The refusal by the Mugabe government to allow Mr. Novak to enter the country is greater evidence of the unfortunate lack of functioning of the transition coalition government. Human Rights Watch notes the lack of human rights reform brought about by the transitional power-sharing government. Police and court officials aligned with the ZANU-PF party continue to conduct politically-motivated prosecutions of innocent activists and legislators.14
A Sobering Analysis
States such as Somalia and Zimbabwe are extreme cases of state failure. Government collapse, extreme economic crises, and rampant human rights infractions coalesce into dire circumstances. The international community is increasingly alarmed by the number of states that are subject to this “perfect storm” of failed state conditions undoubtedly exacerbated by the recent global financial crisis. Although some failed states are more salient than others as global security threats rather than simply humanitarian crises, the consensus is clear—the number of failed states is growing and the symptoms are perilous.
For further information, please consult:
1 Country profile: Somalia. The BBC.
2 “The Long Arm of America.” The Economist. 17 September 2009.
3 Ibid.
4 Mohamed, Mohamed. “Somali-justice-Islamist style.” The BBC. 20 May 2009.
5 “Almost Expunged.” The Economist. 22 October 2009.
6 Sorenson, Karl. “State Failure on the High Seas.” FOI Somalia Papers: Report 3.
7 CIA World Fact Book.
8 Ibid.
9 Zeleny, Jeff, and Celia W. Dugger. “Obama Calls Zimbabwean A Dictator.” The New York Times. 24 November 2009.
10 Power, Samantha. “How to Kill a Country.” The Atlantic. December 2003.
11 Robert Mugabe Briefing: The New York Times.
12 Howden, Daniel. “Zimbabwe on the Brink.” The Independent. 19 September 2007.
13 Crisis Group: Zimbabwe
14 False Dawn. Human Rights Watch. August 31, 2009. | 
