[Peace-discuss] Military hero

[C. G. Estabrook]

"I believe if we had, and would, keep our dirty, bloody, dollar-crooked fingers 
out of the business of these nations so full of depressed, exploited people, 
they will arrive at a solution of their own. That they design and want. That 
they fight and work for...and not the American style, which they don't want. Not 
one crammed down their throats by the Americans."

	--Gen. David Shoup, World War II Medal of Honor recipient and the twenty-second 
Commandant of the United States Marine Corps (1960–1963).


	Somalia tops list of world's most unstable nations
	By James Blitz in London
	Published: June 24 2008 03:00

Somalia has for the first time been ranked as the most unstable country in the 
world, while Israel has fallen into the ranks of the 60 weakest states, 
according to an annual assessment of the world's most troubled nations.

The 2008 Failed States Index, which is produced by Foreign Policy magazine and 
the Fund for Peace, also argues that Sudan, with its crisis in Darfur, is the 
world's second most unstable country.

Sudan is closely followed by Zimbabwe. The country's economic crisis and 
political turmoil have triggered the slide in this year's index.

Israel's low score - it ranks 58th on the list - reflects, in the words of the 
report, "deteriorating security in the West Bank, the country's sharp economic 
disparities, political stalemates, ongoing violence, and its failure to fully 
integrate its Arab minority".

According to this year's index, seven of the top 10 most unstable countries are 
in sub-Saharan Africa. With Chad taking fourth place for political instability, 
subSaharan states occupy four of the top five places in the index.

Fifth place goes to Iraq. This is an improvement on last year, when it was 
ranked as the second most unstable country. The US military surge has been a key 
factor in the country's performance in the index this year.

However, Iraq's gains do not reflect long-term, fundamental changes, according 
to the report's authors. "The desperate predicament of 4m refugees at home and 
abroad, the abysmal state of public services, and the discord among sectarian 
factions have shown no real improvement," according to the index.

One of the biggest declines in this year's index is registered by Bangladesh, 
now in 12th place. According to the report, a feuding, deadlocked government, 
the imposition of emergency rule last year, and the devastation wrought by a 
cyclone last November that left 1.5m people homeless combined to reverse much of 
the country's recent economic progress.

The index shows that Somalia, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Chad and Iraq are the five states 
most at risk of failure. These are followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo, 
Afghanistan, Ivory Coast, Pakistan and the Central African Republic. The next 
five on the list are Guinea, Bangladesh, Burma, Haiti and North Korea.

The 2008 index ranks 177 states according to 12 social, economic, political, and 
military indicators, based on data from more than 30,000 publicly available sources.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008