<div dir="ltr">Yes, I think it is completely unreasonable for Foreign Policy to give Kenya this rating. <br><br>Kenya certainly has problems, but I am in Egypt right now, and from my perspective, Kenya looks pretty good. <br>
<br>I think it is rather insulting that Myanmar gets a better rating than Kenya or Uganda. Good grief. Part of the problem is the hegemonic discourse of Africa as a site of failure. <br><br>Thanks for raising this issue. Warigia<br>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Jun 21, 2012 at 9:47 AM, Francis Hook <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:francis.hook@gmail.com" target="_blank">francis.hook@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
Apologies this is not mainstream ICT but at the periphery some ICT<br>
aspects need to be considered as well...(open access to information,<br>
ICT enabling democracy/choice/transparency, ICT in corruption, etc) .<br>
<br>
This index is by the US group Fund for Peace. I wonder what metrics<br>
they are using or how they are weighting the values of the 13 indices<br>
they use.<br>
<br>
Kenya is ranked 16th...that's just 15 steps away from Somalia (???),<br>
14 from DRC and shares the "teens" positions with Pakistan, Nigeria,<br>
Niger among others. The lower the score, the more "failed" a state<br>
is.<br>
<br>
Anyway....the links:<br>
<br>
1 - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Failed_States_Index" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Failed_States_Index</a><br>
(updated with 2012 Index)<br>
<br>
2 - <a href="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/failed_states_index_2012_interactive" target="_blank">http://www.foreignpolicy.com/failed_states_index_2012_interactive</a><br>
<br>
<br>
Personally I don't think Kenya should rate that poorly out of a 177 or<br>
so countries...I suspect some of the 13 indices are weighted more<br>
heavy than others (corruption, criminality, political situation etc) -<br>
and if such were removed from the index, just for the sake of seeing<br>
how it shifts the rankings, I'd like to think some EU countries would<br>
be in the top 50 at least....social unrest, steep economic decline,<br>
slum creation (US - housing/mortgage crisis has seen more people<br>
living in the streets in the last couple of years than in the last<br>
half a century), Wall Street demos, etc, ...."Suspension or arbitrary<br>
application of law" (Guantano Bay still open for business, The<br>
Patriots Act).<br>
<br>
And "Intervention of external political agents" - I think in Africa's<br>
case these "political agents" are usually from (or supported/fronted)<br>
by some developing countries that would want to nurture certain<br>
regimes in order to reap some economic gain...but that's an argument<br>
for another day.<br>
<br>
I'm also surprised the use of the adjective "primitive" by Korean<br>
Airlines, to describe Kenyans, elicited more reactions than this lowly<br>
ranking...should we get all hot and bothered about what is likely an<br>
issue of translation or summon our national pride and repudiate this<br>
"failed" states index?<br>
<br>
Rgds<br>
<br>
<br>
--<br>
Francis Hook<br>
+254 733 504561<br>
<br>
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</blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div dir="ltr"><div>Dr. Warigia Bowman</div>
<div>Assistant Professor </div><div>Clinton School of Public Service</div><div>University of Arkansas</div><div>1200 President Clinton Ave. </div><div>Sturgis Hall</div><div>Little Rock, AR 72201<br>501-683-5227<br></div>
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