Afghanistan Among the Failed States Threatening The World

The World Bank has released a report on the failed state list. Unfortunately, they don't list all the countries, for political reasons. Notably, Afghanistan is on the list. I suspect Iraq is as well, or should be. Gaza, the West Bank, many African states, Cambodia, Kosovo, and of course Haiti and Sudan.
It's most interesting that the US, most notably, Bush has had a direct hand in creating the conditions that failed states threaten us.
washingtonpost.com

The number of weak and poorly governed nations that can provide a breeding ground for global terrorism has grown sharply over the past three years, despite increased Western efforts to improve conditions in such states, according to a new World Bank report.


"Fragile" countries, whose deepening poverty puts them at risk from terrorism, armed conflict and epidemic disease, have jumped to 26 from 17 since the report was last issued in 2003. Five states graduated off the list, but 14 made new appearances, including Nigeria and seven other African countries, Kosovo, Cambodia, East Timor, and the West Bank and Gaza. Twelve states, including Afghanistan, Somalia and Sudan, made both lists.


[...]Hurdles facing the countries at risk, often referred to as "failed" or "failing" states, include "weak security, fractured societal relations, corruption, breakdown in the rule of law, lack of mechanisms for generating legitimate power and authority" and limited investment resources to meet basic needs, the report said.


To avoid "adverse spillover effects -- such as conflict, terrorism and epidemic diseases -- the international community and the Bank need to find more effective ways" of assisting them, it said.


The Bush administration has described failing states as a major threat to U.S. security. "The danger they pose is now unparalleled," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice wrote in a column that appeared late last year in The Washington Post. "Absent responsible state authority, threats that would and should be contained within a country's borders can now melt into the world and wreak untold havoc.


"Weak and failing states," Rice said, "serve as global pathways that facilitate the spread of pandemics, the movement of criminals and terrorists, and the proliferation of the world's most dangerous weapons."