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Who's Next - Pakistan, Burma, Kenya ..... |
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Contributed by Jim Elliott
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Monday, 09 June 2008 |
What would you see as the connection between Sudan, Iraq, Somalia, Zimbabwe, Haiti, Chad, Afghanistan? One could say that they have all been in the media in the last month. But something much more problematic is in the wind.
In a report from The Fund for Peace and the Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace put these countries on the top of the heap for
failed states. Their report in the July/August 2007 issue of Foreign Policy,
ranked countries as to how they fared in 12 areas. Giving each of them
10 points, the most failed state got the closest to 120. The Sudan had
10 points for group grievances, deligitimization of state and human
rights problems. Iraq had the tops in group grievances, human flight,
poor security apparatus and external intervention. Somalia had group
grievances, public service, security apparatus, factionalized elites
and external intervention. Zimbabwe's problems are their economy. (see http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=3865)
What is problematic with all of their report is that this isn't the
real problem but the tip of the iceberg. Twelve countries have values over 100. There is another
20 above 90 and 60 countries have values over 80. And with the growing
list of problems on the horizon, it can only get worse. Think climate
change. Think fish collapses in the oceans. Think droughts, floods and storms. Think the increasing price of oil
and food. Think the lack of aid being given by those that could be
giving more.
And the 1st world countries are not immune to the problems nor the associated impacts of other countries having problems. Think migrations. It is estimated by the Stern report and others that over 200 million people will begin to migrate around the planet when the problems get worse. They are also seeing trillions of dollars of problems unless we put forward a strong dedicated effort on many fronts.
In a recent book by Lester Brown, Plan B 3.0, he is making the case for a massive and significant mobilization of efforts around the globe to tackle four problems, stabilizing the climate, eradicating poverty, stabilizing the population and restoring the earth's ecosystems, all substantial tasks in and of themselves. He puts it clearly in the subtitle to the book, Mobilizing to Save Civilization.
We can do it and we can make changes. Evergyone needs to be involved and engaged.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 09 June 2008 )
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