8. YEMEN
FSI score: 104.8 
The 22-year rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh finally came to an end in November, when he agreed to step down amid widespread protests and escalating violence in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa. But democracy hasn't exactly flowered in Yemen, where only one candidate, former Vice President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, was on the ballot in an election in February. Meanwhile, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has taken advantage of the political chaos to seize several towns in the country's south. The military has launched an all-out offensive to recapture the lost territory, and the United States has stepped up its strikes on al Qaeda targets.
Above, Yemeni soldiers ride on top of a pick-up truck near the town of Jaar, a jihadist stronghold north of the Abyan provincial capital Zinjibar, on May 30, 2012, as Yemeni forces continued their offensive against al Qaeda loyalists in the south.
AFP/GettyImages
