Afghanistan has been ranked as the sixth failed state in the world in the eighth edition of annual Failed States Index (FSI) 2012, released by Fund for Peace. Last year it was number seven, which shows that the situation has deteriorated in the country. The Index is used to determine the capacity of the countries to stand strong against the political, economic and social pressures.
178 countries are ranked by FSI each year using 12 social, economic and political indicators of pressure on the state with more than 100 sub-indicators. The basic indicators include Uneven Development, State Legitimacy, Group Grievance and Human Rights.
Afghanistan's change in position in the Index basically points at the fact that the political, social and economic pressures have increased on the country and the authorities are not able to deal with them successfully. The international community and the national authorities have kept on emphasizing that the country has improved much in different areas but the scenario seems to be different.
Though there are many reasons behind the issue, the insecurity, corruption and ill-governance are the most basic ones. The insecurity seems to have increased which has made the country suffer from uneven development. The services of the government never reach to the areas that are dominated by the growing threats of terrorism. On the other hand the growth of different terrorist syndicates also shows that the State Legitimacy is being diminished in certain parts of the country.
As far as corruption is concerned, Afghanistan is again counted as one of the most corrupt countries of the world and unfortunately, the guardians of the nation themselves are involved in magnifying this evil.
On the other hand the issue of ill-governance has been dominating the capabilities of the government. Even after the repeated emphasis of the international community, the matter is far away from being solved and millions of people suffer because of the unavailability of basic requirements and services.
Group grievances seem to be accumulating as well, as the government is not able to solve the basic political problems in the system. The political opposition groups seem to be getting really dissatisfied of the political policies of the government and have been raising concerns. However, the government has not responded positively to these grievances and has tried to dominate it through authority. The highly centralized presidential system has left a very little room for the growth of criticism and opposite ideas from the groups other than the ones forming the government.
As far as human rights are concerned, the improvements have not been up to the expectations. Many cases occur every day that show clear violation of human rights in different parts of country. The rights of women, children and minorities are not guarded as much as possible.
The obsolete tribal norms and practices along with the extremist religious ideologies and mindsets are there to violate the human rights on daily basis and the law-enforcement agencies that should provide justice to the people have not been successful to a satisfactory extent. In fact, they themselves have fallen victims to such evils.
Currently, it can be observed that both the international community and the Afghan authorities are exaggeratingly hoping a stable state of affairs in post-2014 scenario. They claim that the transition period is proceeding as per the schedule and expectation, and the complete transition will result in peace and tranquility but they seem to turn their faces away from the realities. Unless the very basic issues are resolved, the expectations of improvement do not appear to be justified. And, for making all the differences it is necessary that the honest and determined efforts are exerted.