The Failed States Index 2010, a collaborative project between the Washington-based Fund for Peace and Norwich Universitys Foreign Policy Institute, placed Zimbabwe on number four out of 60 of the worlds hotspots.
The southern African country, still smarting from a decade-long political and economic crisis blamed on corruption and poor policies by President Robert Mugabes former government, was considered marginally better than war-torn Somalia, Chad and Sudan on the various indicators monitored by the two organisations.
It was classified among 20 countries considered to be in a critical state in terms of the collapse of basic conditions and
responsibilities for sovereign governments.
Others in this category are Somalia, Chad, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan, Iraq, Central Africa Republic, Guinea, Pakistan, Haiti, Cote dIvoire, Kenya, Nigeria, Yemen, Burma, Ethiopia, East Timor, North Korea and Nigeria.
The countries were rated on their performance on various indicators such as human rights record, uneven development, human exodus, illegitimacy of the government, professionalism of the security apparatus, factionalised elites and economic decline.
Once a regional breadbasket, Zimbabwe is slowly emerging from the grip of severe economic crisis and food shortages that Mugabe blames on poor weather and Western sanctions he says have hampered importation of fertilizers, seed, and other farming inputs.
Critics blame Zimbabwe’s troubles on repression and wrong polices by Mugabe such as his land reforms that displaced established white commercial farmers and replaced them with either incompetent or inadequately funded black farmers leading to a massive drop in farm production.
Zimbabweans had hoped a unity government between Mugabe and former opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai would help ease the political situation and allow the country to focus on tackling the economic crisis and food shortages.
But the two political foes, who signed an agreement to share power in 2008 and formed a coalition government in February last year, have largely failed to agree on how to share control of key cabinet posts and other top government positions.
Post published in: News