Check out Foreign Policy’s Failed States Index Map. Interesting stuff.
My gripe: Ecuador is listed as “borderline,” while neighboring Peru is described as “in danger.”
Is Peru really in worse shape than Ecuador, which has seen three presidents deposed since 1997? While Peruvian president Alejandro Toledo’s approval ratings have been subterranean for a while (only about 7-10% of Peruvians currently approve of his performance), the government appears more stable than its northern neighbor.
The country-by-country data provides some insight: Peru receives a poorer score for “Security Apparatus.” I suppose that’s a reference to the Peruvian state’s ongoing struggle to deal with those pesky Maoist rebels, the Shining Path. The guerillas have been quiet of late, though, so I find this explanation surprising.
UPDATE: I just took another glance at the map, and I wanna know this: who’s doing the fact-checking over at Foreign Policy? Morgan Spurlock? Amazingly, Bolivia’s not even included on the list.
Bolivia’s president — as you’ll recall reading about here and elsewhere — stepped down a few months ago after a massive indigenous uprising. Bolivia is truly teeting on the edge of chaos; Peru and Ecuador are comparatively far from collapse.
I'm Newley Purnell, an American journalist in Bangkok. I report for Bloomberg BNA, ABC News Radio, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and more.
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