BY J.J. MESSNER DE LATOUR As many countries continue to suffer thousands of deaths and millions experience social isolation and economic hardship due to the COVID-19 crisis, the 2020 Fragile States Index (FSI) will not provide any data or analysis of how the crisis is affecting the social, economic, and political fortunes of the 178 […]
Tag Archives: Fragile States Index 2020
A Pot Boiling Over: Chile Most Worsened in 2020
- 10 May 2020
BY CHARLES FIERTZ On October 7, in the Santiago metro, a group of students began jumping turnstiles to protest a four percent rise in peak-time fares announced the day before. This was the second increase in fares for public transportation, which were already more than twice as expensive as those in neighboring Buenos Aires or […]
Democracies Under Pressure
- 10 May 2020
BY NATE HAKEN On debate stages, behind pulpits, in lecture halls, journals, books, and op-ed pages, experts and politicians grapple with causes, implications, and solutions to the issue of growing divisiveness across the world’s democracies. Some point to growing inequality and the need for safety nets in the face of demographic pressures and climate change. […]
Exit from Brexit: U.K. Continues Rapid Fall
- 10 May 2020
BY J.J. MESSNER DE LATOUR AND FIONA GRATHWOHL Brexit. In many ways, it would be easy to sum up the fortunes of the United Kingdom over the last five years with this one widely known portmanteau that has not only been the catchphrase for Britain’s exit from the European Union, but has also become a […]
Regional Instability Drives Worsening in Burkina Faso
- 10 May 2020
BY MARCEL MAGLO AND FIONA GRATHWOHL Burkina Faso, formerly considered one of West Africa’s most stable countries, now rates as the fourth most worsened country in the 2020 Fragile States Index (FSI). The country has seen mounting threats to its peace and security over the past five years, despite government efforts to manage the pressures. […]
Colombia’s Peace Deal Unravels
- 10 May 2020
BY CHARLES FIERTZ Colombia saw its worst year-on-year change in the history of the Fragile States Index (FSI) in 2020, breaking a trend of almost uninterrupted improvement since the Index’s inauguration. The 2016 peace deal between Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the Colombian government is looking increasingly fragile, with faith in the process […]
What Else Could Go Wrong? Mozambique Continues Worsening Trend
- 10 May 2020
BY CHARLES FIERTZ A combination of natural disasters, insurgent attacks, and a contested election resulted in another challenging year for Mozambique, which tied with Libya for the second-most worsened country on the 2020 Fragile States Index (FSI). Already beset by increasing structural pressures across multiple indicators, Mozambique’s steady worsening over the past several years in […]
Division in India
- 10 May 2020
BY CHARLES FIERTZ In 1989, foreshadowing events to come, India’s current ruling party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) issued the Palampur Resolution, throwing their support behind the construction of a temple devoted to the Hindu deity Rama on the site of the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya. This was a remarkable gamble at the time, as […]
Libya Continues Path as the Decade’s Most Worsened Country
- 10 May 2020
BY PATRICIA TAFT Libya’s long-running conflict and instability has been well documented by the Fragile States Index (FSI), wherein it rates as the most-worsened country in the world for the past decade, and also holds the record for the greatest year-on-year worsening, when it worsened by 25.8 points in the 2012 FSI. In the 2020 […]
From One Crisis to the Next in Lebanon
- 10 May 2020
BY WENDY WILSON Once the scene of a deadly civil war, Lebanon has more recently been hailed for its resilience, having endured the region’s geopolitical upheaval, staved off the revolutionary tide of the 2011 Arab Spring, and seemingly absorbed the spill over effects of the Syrian Civil War. This celebrated resilience – based on the […]