Recent research from the United States publication Foreign Policy
and the US NGO “Fund for Peace” has identified the
twenty most vulnerable countries as: Ivory Coast, Congo, Sudan,
Iraq, Somalia, Sierra Leone, Chad, Yemen, Liberia, Haiti,
Afghanistan, Rwanda, North Korea, Colombia, Zimbabwe, Guinea,
Bangladesh, Burundi, Dominican Republic and Central African
Republic. Ten Latin American countries out of the list of sixty
that run the risk of becoming what is described as “failed
states” are: Haiti, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Venezuela,
Guatemala, Paraguay, Peru and Honduras.

The “failed states” ranking is based on twelve
economic, social, political and military performance
indicators.  Other organisations have different views. 
The World Bank has identified about 30 “low-income countries
under stress”; the UK's Department for International
Development has named 46 “fragile” states of concern.
 A report commissioned by the CIA has put the number of
failing states at about 20.