BEIRUT: Lebanon ranked 43 among 177 countries in the Fund for Peace's annual Failed States Index and fifth in the MENA region, moving down from its position last year at number 34.
Somalia was ranked number one the fourth consecutive year.
The index, released last month in collaboration with Foreign Policy magazine, highlighted global political, economic and social pressures experienced by states and causing high levels of instability.
“Somalia's unending woes are the stuff hopelessness is made of. But elsewhere in the top 20, some countries showed improvement, even as others fell further behind. Afghanistan and Iraq both moved down the ranks, suggesting slight gains for the two war-torn countries as the United States seeks a sustainable exit strategy,” Foreign Policy reported.
Somalia has not had a functioning government for 20 years. Instability in the African country caused by endless fighting between rival leaders has crippled the state's ability to fight famine and disease.
The FSI ranks 177 countries using 12 social, economic, and political indicators of pressure on the state, along with over 100 sub-indicators including uneven development, state legitimacy, human rights, refugee flows, public services, and security threats.
There were 15 Arab countries included in the index, including Iraq at nine, Yemen 13th, Tunisia 10th, and Libya at 11. Egypt ranked 45th, while Syria ranked at 49.
Israel and the West Bank were treated as one country ranking 53, while Iran ranked 35th.
Finland was ranked as the number one most stable country, displacing Norway for the first time in the seven year history of the index.
“Slight fluctuations in demographic and economic indicators, though minimal, lowered Norway’s scores, allowing Finland, with its continued stability, to slip in front of its Nordic neighbor,” a press release published on the Fund for Peace website said.
Norway ranked second, followed by Sweden, Switzerland and Denmark.