BY J.J. MESSNER AND HANNAH BLYTH South Sudan has topped the Fragile States Index for the second year in succession, as the country continues to be wracked by internal conflict, fractious politics, and poverty. South Sudan is joined at the most fragile end of the Index by countries that have long struggled, such as Somalia, […]
Category Archives: Analysis
Fragile States Index 2015: The Book
- 17 June 2015
BY J. J. MESSNER, NATE HAKEN, PATRICIA TAFT, HANNAH BLYTH, KENDALL LAWRENCE, SEBASTIAN PAVLOU, FELIPE UMAÑA 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 […]
How Renewable Energy Can Learn from the Carbon-Based Energy Sector
- 10 June 2015
BY HANNAH BLYTH and J.J. MESSNER On Monday, the leaders of the G7 made clear that our future will strongly be based on clean energy. In their meeting in the Bavarian Alps, the world’s largest industrialized economies pledged to dramatically reduce or altogether eliminate greenhouse gas emissions by the end of the century, a commitment […]
The Military is Not the Answer to South Africa’s Xenophobic Violence
- 22 April 2015
BY J.J. MESSNER AND ANIA SKINNER A rapid rise in anti-immigrant violence has emerged in South Africa, with at least seven people killed and many more local immigrants’ properties and businesses destroyed. In response to this wave of xenophobic crime, the South African government announced the deployment of troops to areas that have been most […]
Beyond the Presidential Elections: Hopes and Challenges for Nigeria’s Budding Democracy
- 10 April 2015
BY KATIE CORNELIUS After two days of voting in the most closely contested presidential election in Nigeria’s history, Attahiru Jega, the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), announced the final electoral results in favor of opposition candidate and former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari. Buhari’s victory marks a historic occasion for the country considering […]
The Rising Trend of Female Suicide Bombers in Nigeria
- 28 March 2015
BY ANIA SKINNER Jamāʻat Ahl as-Sunnahlid-daʻwa wal-Jihād (JAS), known widely as Boko Haram, has employed suicide bombers as a terrorist tactic in their insurgency against the Nigerian government since 2011. As of mid-2014, however, reports began to emerge of an alarming new dimension: the use of young women and girls in suicide missions. The first […]
Gender Violence Spikes in Nigerian Election Run-Up
- 25 March 2015
BY HANNAH BLYTH As the tense countdown continues to the Nigerian elections – scheduled to take place this Saturday, March 28 – gender based violence is on the rise. This is not just endemic to Nigeria, but can be linked to wider issues of negative gender attitudes and wider violence in the region.
Preventing Election-Related Violence in Nigeria: What is Still Possible?
- 06 February 2015
BY THE FUND FOR PEACE AND SEARCH FOR COMMON GROUND Nigeria’s national elections take place exactly ten days from today, with state-level elections two weeks thereafter. Below are six policy actions that we believe can be taken today, and every day, from now through the election and post-election period to mitigate violence within and between […]
Lessons from Nigeria’s Successful Ebola Containment
- 12 November 2014
BY SOFIA SCOTT With the arrival of the first case of Ebola in the United States in September, panic spread nationwide. Meanwhile Nigeria, located much closer to three main epicenters of Ebola in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, managed to stop the spread of the disease in a nation numbering more than 170 million people. […]
“The Eyes of the World Are Watching.” They Sure Are, Governor.
- 20 August 2014
BY J.J. MESSNER It is easy to view the unfolding events in Ferguson, Missouri as an inherently domestic issue. Much of the domestic analysis so far has characterized this violence as reminiscent of decades past – or lands far away. In the words of Governor Jay Nixon of Missouri, “The eyes of the world are […]