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Zimbabwe tops a list of countries at very high risk of social and political unrest as the impact of the global recession unfolds, according to an index developed by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
The Zimbabwean government has survived a gamut of problems, comments the EIU report, such as "the almost-complete implosion of the economy", election rigging, and the "oppression" of large sections of the population, so it may yet be to able to "ride out the latest threat".
"That said, if declining commodity prices lessen its ability to buy off the military and security forces, the [Robert] Mugabe government may finally fall."
Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cambodia and Sudan are the others in the top five of the 95 countries listed in the "very high risk" category of the 165 nations covered by the index. In 2007, only 35 states were rated as being at "very high" or "high" risk of instability.
Read the EIU report: Manning the Barricades
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