Hello delegates, Once again, it's a pleasure to be writing to you, but I can't wait to see everyone in committee. I am going to dedicate this blog post to some recent statistics about our second topic. “If the Failed States Index were a championship, then Somalia would be the undisputed four-time champion.” http://www.fundforpeace.org/global/?q=node/123 The new 2011 Failed States Index released in late June was more dismal news for fragile and failed states. As evident by the quote above, Somalia has been struggling with the problem for years. Although the country has some parts that are improving, like the Northern Somaliland, the whole country is struggling with issues including widespread lawlessness, ineffective government, terrorism, insurgency, crime, and abysmal development. This failure is also affecting neighboring countries, as evident by the high ranking of some African countries, including Chad, Sudan, Zimbabwe, and Democratic Republic of the Congo. The lowest ranking on the index was previously owned by Norway, but Finland is not the country with the least indicators of failure. The Failed States Index is a very important aspect of the second topic. While it is very useful in identifying countries with certain issues that the international community may be used to address, the index has been also attacked by some critics as a way to single out countries, causing leaders to lash out against the international community. The index is for all intents and purposes very useful for our DISEC committee. A major part of the foreign policy that must be used in relation to this topic for the delegates is knowing their country’s ranking and areas of problems that the country faces. If there are minimal problems, the country must look at ways to use the index to assist countries in need. The 2011 failed states index statistics were not used in my background guide, so delegates must study the newest one thoroughly. The full index, images, and analyses can be found below. http://www.foreignpolicy.com/failedstates Make sure you keep researching and updating your plethora of knowledge about these topics before the conference starts in a few days! Regards, Your Dais