The 25 Most Failed States On Earth

[FarCenter]

Last month, Foreign Policy came out with its annual list of the most failed states on the globe, based on 12 metrics including social, economic, and political and military indicators.

We covered how Canada beat out the U.S. as less of a failed state.

Now, we're giving a complete breakdown of the worst of the worst. In the year 2013, it's hard to believe that life can be so bad.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-25-most-failed-states-on-earth-2013-6?op=1

From #25, Eritrea, to #1, Somalia. Most are in Africa and the Middle East.

[MrScorpio]

1. The thing that sticks out to me is that, in the vast majority of those places...

The weapons used by the combatants have come from places that aren't described as failed states.

Also, they lie in areas of the world where the non-failed states have competing interests.

[FarCenter]

2. Except for the Ugandan police shotgun, the weapons are all Russian designs

Since the USSR failed over two decades ago, it is not clear that these states are suffering from Great Power competition. The weapons are bought in by corrupt local groups for their own corrupt ends. It just turns out that the former Eastern Bloc weapons are cheap and reliable.

Furthermore, in the Eastern Congo it has been demonstrated that traditional spears and cheap machetes are quite lethal.