The 10 states that fill out the top ranks of this year's Failed States Index -- the world's most vulnerable nations -- are a sadly familiar bunch. Shattered Somalia has been the No. 1 failed state for three years running, and none of the current top 10 has shown much improvement, if any, since FOREIGN POLICY  and the Fund for Peace began publishing the index in 2005. Altogether, the top 10 slots have rotated among just 15 unhappy countries in the index's six years. State failure, it seems, is a chronic condition. (...)

The article:
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/failedstates

Postcards from hell:
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/06/21/postcards_from_hell

Cartoline da un... passato prossimo:
http://www.loccidentale.it/articolo/un+pericolo+per+s%C3%A9+e+per+gli+altri%3A-i+failed+states+second+foreign+policy.0060390