The Gambia vs. Russia
Day 30
Tues Aug 16
Mopti, Mali
Back at Mopti again. This time to try and find transportation to Timbuktu. I wanted originally to take a boat up and a car back. When talking to the ferry people I was getting hassled too much I didn't think it was worth the hassle so I left. After consulting the guide book they mentioned that if you try and get a boat going up you'll get hassled. Should have read that first. They suggested take a car up and a boat down. Now I needed to find the car park.
Within one hour of finding the car park I confirmed it was the place to get transportation to Timbuktu, asked the price for a seat, proved it was non-negotiable, proved it was the correct price and not a tourist price, reserved my seat and was told to go back to Sevare to the Peace Corps House where they will pick me up on the way out of town. All this in French, which I don't know.
Not knowing whether I had an hour to wait or day I stayed inside for most of the time, telling the guard each time I left that I'll be around the corner getting my meals (street vendors). Since I had a lot of time to spare I started reading the magazines laying around. I was the only person at the house at the time so I MacGyver'd the CD Player to work and read the magazines while listening to Dave Mathews - one of the few CD I could find that I could stand to listen to repeatedly. (Lack of options means same CD again and again)
One magazine I read was "Foreign Policy" July/Aug 2005 edition. A few articles caught my eye. One was an article of instable countries, labelled "The Failed States Index" in which they ranked all the countries based on twelve criteria.
Social Indicators
1. Mounting Demographic Pressures
2. Massive Movement of Refugees or Internally Displaced Persons creating Complex Humanitarian Emergencies
3. Legacy of Vengeance-Seeking Group Grievance or Group Paranoia
4. Chronic and Sustained Human Flight
Economic Indicators
5. Uneven Economic Development along Group Lines
6. Sharp and/or Severe Economic Decline
Political Indicators
7. Criminalization and/or Delegitimization of the State
8. Progressive Deterioration of Public Services
9. Suspension or Arbitrary Application of the Rule of Law and Widespread Violation of Human Rights
10. Security Apparatus Operates as a "State Within a State"
11. Rise of Factionalized Elites
12. Intervention of Other States or External Political Actors
The top five countries?
1. Ivory Coast
2. Congo
3. Sudan
4. Iraq
5. Somalia
On the flight to The Gambia from D.C. we flew to Abidjan as a connection from Brussels to The Gambia. We weren't allowed off the plane. Now I can see why. It's the top failing state in the world.
Another thing that concerned me was Sudan ranking three. If I want to get to Egypt by land through Chad I have to go either through Libya or Sudan. Seeing Sudan ranking less stable than Iraq really sealed the deal. If I can't get through to Libya safely I'll fly.
Here's other's that ranked in:
#7: Chad (The last Peace Corps country on my trip, and in fact the least stable country PC is still in)
#16: Guinea (where I vacationed last year.)
#38: Egypt (my destination)
For Guinea it actually ranked the highest in the world for Human Flight, meaning:
4. Chronic and Sustained Human Flight
"Brain drain" of professionals, intellectuals and political dissidents fearing persecution or repression
Voluntary emigration of "the middle class," particularly economically productive segments of the population, such as entrepreneurs, business people, artisans and traders, due to economic deterioration
Growth of exile communities
And the real kicker? The last three ranked states:
#58: Cuba
#59: Russia
#60: The Gambia
The Gambia is more stable than Russia?! That's a surprise!
The over-all affect of this article: I lived in the 60th least stable country in the world for two years, vacationed in the 16th and 38th least stable countries, travelled to the 7th least stable and flew into the airport of the number one least stable. That's a lot of instability in one's life! The odd part? Mauritania didn't make the cut (stopped at #60, The Gambia) even though they just had a coup two weeks ago.
Another article asked nine countries whether China, France, Russia, Britain, or the US has negatively or positively affected the world. Five of the nine countries surveyed where the five the survey was about. I concentrated on those, and based on just those five countries and what they said about the other four:
1. Every country (of the five) considered themselves to be the best influence in the world -
except the U.S. who voted the UK the best.
2. U.S. was voted the worst
3. France voted the best
4. U.S. was the most opinionated (the sums of + and - for the countries closely added to 100%)
5. Russia was the least opinionated
6. China was the most optimistic of the bunch
7. Britain was the most pessimestic
8. More countries had a viewpoint on the US then any other country
9. More countries didn't have a viewpoint on China than any other country.
Tues Aug 16
Mopti, Mali
Back at Mopti again. This time to try and find transportation to Timbuktu. I wanted originally to take a boat up and a car back. When talking to the ferry people I was getting hassled too much I didn't think it was worth the hassle so I left. After consulting the guide book they mentioned that if you try and get a boat going up you'll get hassled. Should have read that first. They suggested take a car up and a boat down. Now I needed to find the car park.
Within one hour of finding the car park I confirmed it was the place to get transportation to Timbuktu, asked the price for a seat, proved it was non-negotiable, proved it was the correct price and not a tourist price, reserved my seat and was told to go back to Sevare to the Peace Corps House where they will pick me up on the way out of town. All this in French, which I don't know.
Not knowing whether I had an hour to wait or day I stayed inside for most of the time, telling the guard each time I left that I'll be around the corner getting my meals (street vendors). Since I had a lot of time to spare I started reading the magazines laying around. I was the only person at the house at the time so I MacGyver'd the CD Player to work and read the magazines while listening to Dave Mathews - one of the few CD I could find that I could stand to listen to repeatedly. (Lack of options means same CD again and again)
One magazine I read was "Foreign Policy" July/Aug 2005 edition. A few articles caught my eye. One was an article of instable countries, labelled "The Failed States Index" in which they ranked all the countries based on twelve criteria.
Social Indicators
1. Mounting Demographic Pressures
2. Massive Movement of Refugees or Internally Displaced Persons creating Complex Humanitarian Emergencies
3. Legacy of Vengeance-Seeking Group Grievance or Group Paranoia
4. Chronic and Sustained Human Flight
Economic Indicators
5. Uneven Economic Development along Group Lines
6. Sharp and/or Severe Economic Decline
Political Indicators
7. Criminalization and/or Delegitimization of the State
8. Progressive Deterioration of Public Services
9. Suspension or Arbitrary Application of the Rule of Law and Widespread Violation of Human Rights
10. Security Apparatus Operates as a "State Within a State"
11. Rise of Factionalized Elites
12. Intervention of Other States or External Political Actors
The top five countries?
1. Ivory Coast
2. Congo
3. Sudan
4. Iraq
5. Somalia
On the flight to The Gambia from D.C. we flew to Abidjan as a connection from Brussels to The Gambia. We weren't allowed off the plane. Now I can see why. It's the top failing state in the world.
Another thing that concerned me was Sudan ranking three. If I want to get to Egypt by land through Chad I have to go either through Libya or Sudan. Seeing Sudan ranking less stable than Iraq really sealed the deal. If I can't get through to Libya safely I'll fly.
Here's other's that ranked in:
#7: Chad (The last Peace Corps country on my trip, and in fact the least stable country PC is still in)
#16: Guinea (where I vacationed last year.)
#38: Egypt (my destination)
For Guinea it actually ranked the highest in the world for Human Flight, meaning:
4. Chronic and Sustained Human Flight
"Brain drain" of professionals, intellectuals and political dissidents fearing persecution or repression
Voluntary emigration of "the middle class," particularly economically productive segments of the population, such as entrepreneurs, business people, artisans and traders, due to economic deterioration
Growth of exile communities
And the real kicker? The last three ranked states:
#58: Cuba
#59: Russia
#60: The Gambia
The Gambia is more stable than Russia?! That's a surprise!
The over-all affect of this article: I lived in the 60th least stable country in the world for two years, vacationed in the 16th and 38th least stable countries, travelled to the 7th least stable and flew into the airport of the number one least stable. That's a lot of instability in one's life! The odd part? Mauritania didn't make the cut (stopped at #60, The Gambia) even though they just had a coup two weeks ago.
Another article asked nine countries whether China, France, Russia, Britain, or the US has negatively or positively affected the world. Five of the nine countries surveyed where the five the survey was about. I concentrated on those, and based on just those five countries and what they said about the other four:
1. Every country (of the five) considered themselves to be the best influence in the world -
except the U.S. who voted the UK the best.
2. U.S. was voted the worst
3. France voted the best
4. U.S. was the most opinionated (the sums of + and - for the countries closely added to 100%)
5. Russia was the least opinionated
6. China was the most optimistic of the bunch
7. Britain was the most pessimestic
8. More countries had a viewpoint on the US then any other country
9. More countries didn't have a viewpoint on China than any other country.
posted by Mike | 5:47 AM
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