Afghanistan Less Stable Than Iraq: Report

While Iraq has grown more stable over the past year, Afghanistan has become one of the world's dangerous places, concludes a new think-tank report. Afghanistan is now the world's third most unstable country, behind the Palestinian territories and Somalia, reports Reuters. Iraq, thanks to high oil prices and a larger American military presence, was in 22nd place, no more unstable than Nigeria.

Although the report from Jane's Information Group did not offer comparative figures, a 2007 ranking of failed states in Foreign Policy put Iraq at No. 2 and Afghanistan at No. 8. Violence in Afghanistan has spiked to its highest level since the overthrow of the Taliban. The government controls little of its territory, and opium accounts for half of the nation's economy. (More Afghanistan stories.)