Blaming governments is one thing, but institutions are just, as the old saying goes, the lengthened shadow of one man (or woman). Sometimes it's fairer to blame problems on the misguided policies, greed, corruption, or evil of a single individual or small coterie of leaders. This means the solution to state failure in some places might really lie in an actuarial table, the end of a blood line, or a violent act of rebellion (Zimbabwe, North Korea, Syria, and Sudan come to mind). And remember that you don't have to be a crazy dictator to impose devastatingly damaging policies. You can be a narcissistic demagogue like Venezuela's Hugo Chávez or a democratically selected but utterly misguided mainstream politician like Italy's Silvio Berlusconi. Whatever the model, just look at the devastating costs from these individual failures -- there's blame enough to go around.
5. The Failing-Their-Own-People Index
This might sound like the list we started out with, but, sadly, it's even bigger. Make an index based on the primary metric of countries failing to meet the terms of the social contract, and it will be so long the countries on it won't just be those that are poor and victimized by conflict, bad neighbors, bad luck, or bad leadership. Why? Just about every state in the world is falling behind in its ability to serve its citizens these days -- because too many of their problems can only be resolved on a global stage and unfortunately the old-fashioned nation-states upon which our global system is built lack the basic instruments of governance necessary to influence outcomes as they once did. Indeed, most states today are less able to control their own borders and their own currencies, project force, or enforce laws -- and are much more dependent on highly mobile, global corporate actors that unhesitatingly play one country against another. So here's a cheery thought to leave you with: The reality is that in some ways all states are faltering, falling behind what they once were and what their citizens expect of them.
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