BY J.J. MESSNER, NATE HAKEN, KRISTA HENDRY, PATRICIA TAFT, KENDALL LAWRENCE, LAURA BRISARD, FELIPE UMANA The Fragile States Index, produced by The Fund for Peace, is a critical tool in highlighting not only the normal pressures that all states experience, but also in identifying when those pressures are pushing a state towards the brink of […]
Category Archives: Analysis
From Failed to Fragile: Renaming the Index
- 24 June 2014
BY KRISTA HENDRY Fragile States Index 2014 When the Failed States Index (FSI) was first published in 2005, the use of the term ‘”failed state” was designed to highlight and draw attention to the very real risk that people faced if their state failed to address the factors and conditions that we were measuring. While […]
It Takes a Generation: West African Success Stories
- 24 June 2014
BY NATE HAKEN Many truisms about peace-building incline towards pessimism. There is a “vicious cycle,” a “conflict trap,” “unintended consequences,” the problem of “political will,” and a slew of transnational “exogenous pressures” beyond the sphere of anyone’s control. Certainly, the Fragile States Index (FSI) is often perceived as a buffet of bad news stories and […]
Briefing: Japan’s Nuclear Disaster Continues to Unfold
- 11 December 2013
BY JACOB GRUNBERGER On Friday March 11, 2011 at 2:45 pm JST, an earthquake registered as a 9.0 on the Richter Scale occurred near the east coast of Honshu, Japan. The earthquake was comparable in its magnitude to the earthquake that hit Sumatra in 2004, roughly the equivalent of 23,000 Nagasaki bombs being simultaneously detonated. […]
Briefing: Ensuring Compliance in Syria
- 25 October 2013
BY JACOB GRUNBERGER The details of the destruction of the Syrian government’s one thousand tons of chemical agents are still being finalized by the United States, Russia, and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the implementing body of the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). In addition to the negotiations, however, another question […]
Morocco After the Arab Uprisings: Evolution Rather than Revolution
- 22 October 2013
BY KRISTA HENDRY AND DR. RICARDO RENE LAREMONT* On September 27, 2013, The Fund for Peace hosted a Roundtable meeting in Washington, D.C. on the future of Morocco in the context of the Arab Spring. The Roundtable discussion, which sought to elicit policy recommendations, was led by Dr. Ricardo René Larémont of SUNY Binghampton. In […]
Briefing: Chemical Weapons
- 19 September 2013
BY JACOB GRUNBERGER The advent of chemical weapons, originally in the forms of chlorine and mustard gasses, is often attributed to being a direct byproduct of the industrialized nature of World War I. The first major use of this technology occurred on April 22, 1915 by the German military at Leper, Belgium. After witnessing the […]
Greater Site and Community Security through Partnerships
- 01 September 2013
BY KRISTA HENDRY The Fund for Peace Commentary This paper examines issues related to ensuring greater site and community security through collaborative efforts, focusing on the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights (VPs). It provides background on the VPs for those less aware of the initiative. It then discusses company and non-governmental organizations developing […]
Security Sector Reform and the Private Sector: Bringing New Voices and Skills into the VPs
- 23 August 2013
BY KRISTA HENDRY The Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights (VPs) were developed to address the issue of oil, gas and mining companies’ association with human rights abuses in relation to the provision of security. This was – and continues to be – particularly true when these companies are operating in remote, less governed […]
The Year of Red-Line Diplomacy
- 24 June 2013
BY PATRICIA TAFT The top several tiers of the annual Failed States Index (FSI) are often occupied not only by weak and fractured states at risk for conflict, but also states that have, over the years, been the proverbial thorns in the side of the international community. Each year these chart toppers, often impervious by […]