Yay! my country is ranking FIRST!

My country, the Republic of the Sudan, has again ranked the First. But I am not proud at all, and somewhat skeptical. According to the Failed States Index for 2007, Sudan is the most susceptible state in the world to failure.
Based on social, economic and political indicators, these rankings, by the Foreign Policy Association and the Fund for Peace organization, are from unclassified statistical data.


Very disheartening and embarrassing, but as I previously said I'm skeptical. Who gathered these data? If it's the state then wouldn't it doctor these statistics to its own advantage. If non-state actors conducted the research and gathered the data, which politically failed state will allow strangers do so to harm it?

The Foreign Policy Association answers this question rather ambiguously

Q: What methodology was used for the ratings?

A: The Fund for Peace used its Conflict Assessment System Tool (CAST), an original methodology it has developed and tested over the past decade. CAST is a flexible model that has the capability to employ a four-step trend-line analysis, consisting of (1) rating 12 social, economic, and political/military indicators; (2) assessing the capabilities of five core state institutions considered essential for sustaining security; (3) identifying idiosyncratic factors and surprises; and (4) placing countries on a conflict map that shows the risk history of countries being analyzed.

For the Failed States Index, FfP focused solely on the first step, which provides snapshots of state vulnerability or risk of violence during a window in time. The CAST software indexed and scanned tens of thousands of open-source articles and reports using Boolean logic. The data are electronically gathered using Thomson Dialog, a powerful data-collection system that includes international and local media reports and other public documents, including U.S. State Department reports, independent studies, and even corporate financial filings. The data used in each index are collected from May to December of the preceding year. The software calculates the number of positive and negative “hits” for the 12 indicators. Internal and external experts then review the scores as well as the articles themselves, when necessary, to confirm the scores and ensure accuracy.

Italicized red clauses are the ones that boggled my mind, they shouldn't have the same effect on you.

Well, I don't need all this to tell me that life is hard in Sudan and that WE NEED A LOT OF CHANGE AND REFORM!!!!!!