The Chessboard
The least Islam aligned nations
Every nation that falls short of alignment, least aligned first: it has started, provoked or joined a war against another people since 2016 or holds another people's land by force, or the sharia is not a main source of its law. Measured against the principles of our policy reforms — justice, protection of life, no riba, circulation of wealth, common resources held in trust, accountable and consulted rule, kept covenants, independence, human dignity, religious freedom and the sharia. The nations that meet both requirements are on the Aligned Nations Ranking.
How each nation is scored — the twelve principles of our policy reforms
- Justice (adl). No one's land, life, rights or wealth taken unjustly; justice upheld for everyone, even enemies, and what was wrongly taken given back. Economic, Financial, Political and National Policy Reform
- Protection of life (hifz al-nafs). Life is sacred: non-combatants never targeted, war only against real aggression, and no help given to another's aggression. Political Policy Reform; the objectives of the sharia (maqasid)
- Prohibition of usury and speculation (riba, gharar). Public and private finance built on shared risk and real assets, not interest-bearing debt or speculative bets. Economic, Financial, Political and National Policy Reform
- Circulation of wealth and zakat (tadawul al-mal). Wealth must not circulate only among the rich; zakat, endowments and fair wages meet every person's basic needs. Economic, Financial, Political and National Policy Reform
- Trust over common resources (amana). Water, energy, minerals and public assets belong to the whole community — not privatised, monopolised or signed away for private or foreign gain. Economic and Financial Policy Reform
- Accountability and truthfulness (muhasaba, sidq). Rulers, security forces and firms answer to law and to the public; no coups, state capture, bribery or concealment. Economic, Political and National Policy Reform
- Legitimate authority by consultation (shura). Rule rests on the community's consent, given through consultation and a free pledge — not inheritance, force or foreign backing. Political and National Policy Reform
- Kept covenants and peacemaking (wafa bil-ahd, sulh). Treaties, contracts and rulings honoured; an offer of peace met with peace; disputes ended by reconciliation. Economic, Financial and Political Policy Reform
- Independence and self-reliance (izza). No foreign power or creditor in control of the nation's revenues or decisions; its own strength, industry and knowledge built. Financial and Political Policy Reform
- Human dignity and privacy (karama). Every person's dignity protected — citizen or migrant; no spying on private lives, no torture or humiliation. Economic, Financial, Political and National Policy Reform
- Religious freedom (la ikraha fi al-din). No compulsion in religion: every faith free to worship, build and keep its places of worship, dress and teach — Muslims and minorities alike — with no state persecution, bans on religious dress or forced conversion. The objectives of the sharia (maqasid): protection of religion (hifz al-din); Qur'an 2:256
- Implementation of the sharia (tatbiq al-sharia). The sharia a source of the nation's law — in family and personal status, finance free of riba, the courts and governance — applied with due process and its objectives (maqasid) in view, not as a slogan. Economic, Financial, Political and National Policy Reform
These are the principles the Policy Reform pages draw from the expert opinions. Each nation is marked 0–5 on each from its record as a state — its economy, government and treatment of its people, and its conduct in its wars — drawn from UN bodies, the ICJ and ICC, human-rights monitors and the reporting under each war. The twelve marks make the percentage; each war a nation started, provoked or joined against another people then takes 15 points off it, and an aggressor always ranks below every nation that started no war. The score judges a state's conduct, not its people or their faith.
Non-Aligned Nations Ranking
- 1 ChinaBuilds its own industry and holds its resources largely in state hands, but one party rules without consent, Uyghurs and Tibetans are held under surveillance and detention, and it holds Tibet and presses its neighbours' waters by force.0%
Why 0%
- Justice1/5
- Protection of life2/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources3/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation0/5
- Kept covenants1/5
- Independence4/5
- Dignity0/5
- Religious freedom0/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
Marks 25% − 15 for each war it started, provoked or joined (Tibet, 1950–present; South China Sea, 2016–present) = 0%. Ranked below every nation that started no war.
- Tibet, 1950–present: Holds Tibet, invaded in 1950, under military and party control, with no say for Tibetans over their rule.
- South China Sea, 2016–present: Uses coast guard and militia vessels to seize and hold reefs and shoals claimed by the Philippines and Vietnam, defying the 2016 arbitral award.
- State-owned banks, energy and mining dominate; the economy is built on domestic industry and technology.
- UN human rights office (August 2022) found possible crimes against humanity in Xinjiang.
- Single-party rule; no national elections, and a free press and independent courts are absent.
- Rejected the 2016 arbitral ruling on the South China Sea and built military outposts on disputed reefs.
- 2 IsraelAn occupation the ICJ ruled unlawful, a war in Gaza the UN inquiry calls genocide, four neighbours struck — the furthest of any state from justice and the protection of life.⚔ Israel and Lebanonaggressor⚔ The Iran war: Iran, Israel, Palestine, the United States and Yemenaggressor⚔ Syria after Assadaggressor0%
Why 0%
- Justice0/5
- Protection of life0/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability2/5
- Consultation2/5
- Kept covenants0/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity0/5
- Religious freedom2/5
- Sharia2/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (2/5; alignment requires 3).
Marks 23% − 15 for each war it started, provoked or joined (Israel and Lebanon; The Iran war: Iran, Israel, Palestine, the United States and Yemen; Syria after Assad) = 0%. Ranked below every nation that started no war.
- ICJ advisory opinion (2024): the occupation is unlawful; record settler violence and annexation in 2026.
- More than 74,000 Palestinians killed; UN Commission of Inquiry genocide finding; ICC warrants for its leaders.
- At war in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Iran; breached the 1974 Syria agreement and the 2024 Lebanon ceasefire.
- Amnesty and HRW find apartheid against Palestinians; detainees tortured.
- 3 MyanmarA coup regime bombing its own people, accused of genocide against the Rohingya Muslims — the furthest from every principle.⚔ Myanmar and the Rohingyaaggressor0%
Why 0%
- Justice0/5
- Protection of life0/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth0/5
- Common resources1/5
- Accountability0/5
- Consultation0/5
- Kept covenants1/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity0/5
- Religious freedom0/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
Marks 8% − 15 for each war it started, provoked or joined (Myanmar and the Rohingya) = 0%. Ranked below every nation that started no war.
- 2021 coup; Min Aung Hlaing made president through a partial election (April 2026).
- ICJ genocide case over the Rohingya; at least 702 civilians killed by the military in six months (OHCHR).
- Jade, gems and timber taken by the military and its cronies.
- 4 North KoreaSelf-reliant under heavy sanctions and its resources are state-held, but a hereditary dynasty rules by terror, camps hold its people, and it sent troops to Russia's war on Ukraine.0%
Why 0%
- Justice0/5
- Protection of life0/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources3/5
- Accountability0/5
- Consultation0/5
- Kept covenants1/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity0/5
- Religious freedom0/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
Marks 15% − 15 for each war it started, provoked or joined (Ukraine, 2024–present) = 0%. Ranked below every nation that started no war.
- Ukraine, 2024–present: Sent troops to fight alongside Russia in its invasion of Ukraine, with the two states confirming the deployment in 2025.
- UN Commission of Inquiry (2014) found crimes against humanity, including political prison camps.
- Hereditary rule by the Kim family since 1948; no elections with any choice.
- Sent thousands of soldiers to fight for Russia in Kursk from late 2024, confirmed by both states in 2025.
- Repeated nuclear and missile tests against UN Security Council resolutions.
- 5 RussiaStrong and self-reliant with its resources in state hands — and a conqueror that annexes land, deports children and rules without real elections.⚔ Russia and UkraineaggressorThe Sahel: Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger0%
Why 0%
- Justice0/5
- Protection of life0/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources3/5
- Accountability0/5
- Consultation1/5
- Kept covenants0/5
- Independence4/5
- Dignity1/5
- Religious freedom1/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
Marks 20% − 15 for each war it started, provoked or joined (Russia and Ukraine; Syria, 2015–2024) = 0%. Ranked below every nation that started no war.
- Syria, 2015–2024: Its air force fought for Assad from 2015, striking hospitals, markets and schools in opposition areas — war crimes by the findings of the UN Commission of Inquiry.
- Invasion of Ukraine and annexation of four regions; ICC warrant for Putin over deported children.
- Africa Corps massacres in Mali (HRW, 2026).
- Energy and minerals largely state-controlled; opposition jailed and elections managed.
- 6 TurkeyKeeps its own defence industry and reaches millions of refugees, but jailed the main opposition mayor, occupies parts of Syria and Iraq, and its economy runs on interest-based debt.0%
Why 0%
- Justice1/5
- Protection of life1/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation2/5
- Kept covenants2/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity1/5
- Religious freedom3/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
Marks 32% − 15 for each war it started, provoked or joined (Northern Syria, 2016 to today; Northern Iraq, 2019 to today; Libya, 2019-2020) = 0%. Ranked below every nation that started no war.
- Northern Syria, 2016 to today: Sent its army and allied militias into Syria in 2016, 2018 (Afrin) and 2019, and still holds land along the border.
- Northern Iraq, 2019 to today: Keeps bases and carries out regular air and ground operations in northern Iraq against the PKK.
- Libya, 2019-2020: Sent drones, advisers and Syrian fighters to Libya in January 2020 to fight for one side of its civil war.
- Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu jailed in March 2025 and the opposition party prosecuted.
- Hosts several million Syrian refugees but has deported many since 2024.
- Interest-based banking dominates, with a growing participation-bank sector.
- Built its own armed drones and warships; a NATO member that keeps ties with Russia.
- 7 United Arab EmiratesIs rich, self-reliant and open to other faiths' places of worship, but its rulers answer to no vote, it sent forces into Yemen, armed Libya's warlord and is accused of arming Sudan's RSF, and it spies on dissidents.5%
Why 5%
- Justice1/5
- Protection of life1/5
- No riba2/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation1/5
- Kept covenants1/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity1/5
- Religious freedom3/5
- Sharia3/5
Marks 35% − 15 for each war it started, provoked or joined (Yemen, 2015 to the present; Libya, 2016–2020) = 5%. Ranked below every nation that started no war.
- Yemen, 2015 to the present: Joined the Saudi-led coalition in 2015, took part in air and ground fighting, and after its 2019 drawdown kept arming and directing Yemeni militias and holding positions such as Socotra.
- Libya, 2016–2020: Backed Khalifa Haftar's forces with weapons, air support and drone strikes during his 2019-2020 assault on Tripoli, in breach of the UN arms embargo (UN panel of experts).
- Fought in Yemen from 2015 and armed and trained Yemeni militias, including southern separatists, after officially drawing down in 2019.
- UN expert panels reported its support for Khalifa Haftar's forces in Libya, in breach of the arms embargo; UN experts have also reported credible evidence of arms reaching Sudan's RSF, which the UAE denies.
- Leased ADNOC pipeline revenue to foreign investors in 2020 and bought Ras El-Hekma in Egypt in 2024; ADNOC remains state-owned.
- Sentenced dozens of political activists in the 2024 'UAE84' trial; spyware has been used against dissidents; the Federal National Council is only partly elected by a small electorate.
- 8 EritreaRefuses foreign loans and aid and keeps its own course, but has never held a national election, jails people without trial for years, and sent its army into Tigray.7%
Why 7%
- Justice0/5
- Protection of life0/5
- No riba2/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources3/5
- Accountability0/5
- Consultation0/5
- Kept covenants1/5
- Independence4/5
- Dignity0/5
- Religious freedom0/5
- Sharia2/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (2/5; alignment requires 3).
Marks 22% − 15 for each war it started, provoked or joined (Tigray, 2020–2022) = 7%. Ranked below every nation that started no war.
- Tigray, 2020–2022: Sent its army across the border into Tigray in November 2020 to fight alongside Ethiopian federal forces, and the UN and rights groups documented massacres and rapes by its troops.
- No national election has been held since independence in 1993; the 1997 constitution was never put into effect.
- UN Commission of Inquiry (2016) found crimes against humanity, including indefinite national service and detention without trial.
- Eritrean troops fought in Tigray from November 2020; the UN and rights groups documented massacres, including at Axum.
- Mining is state and partly foreign-run, notably the Chinese-linked Bisha and Asmara projects.
- 9 United StatesElected rulers, independent courts and a free press — but it launched a war on Iran, arms Israel's, runs the world's interest-based dollar system and walks away from treaties.⚔ The Iran war: Iran, Israel, Palestine, the United States and Yemenaggressor⚠ Russia and UkraineprovokerSomalia and al-Shabaab8%
Why 8%
- Justice1/5
- Protection of life1/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants1/5
- Independence5/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
Marks 38% − 15 for each war it started, provoked or joined (The Iran war: Iran, Israel, Palestine, the United States and Yemen; Russia and Ukraine) = 8%. Ranked below every nation that started no war.
- Launched the February 2026 war on Iran with Israel; the UN-backed mission found likely war crimes in the Minab school strike.
- Israel's main arms supplier through the Gaza war; sanctions on the ICC.
- The dollar and Treasury debt sit at the centre of the global interest-based system.
- Among the widest wealth gaps of rich nations; mass deportations and surveillance.
- 10 AzerbaijanHolds its oil and gas in state hands and recovered its land, but it ran a war and expulsion of Karabakh Armenians, bans real opposition, jails journalists and is ruled by one family.10%
Why 10%
- Justice0/5
- Protection of life1/5
- No riba2/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources3/5
- Accountability0/5
- Consultation0/5
- Kept covenants1/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity1/5
- Religious freedom2/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
Marks 25% − 15 for each war it started, provoked or joined (Nagorno-Karabakh, 2020 and 2023) = 10%. Ranked below every nation that started no war.
- Nagorno-Karabakh, 2020 and 2023: Launched the September 2020 war and the September 2023 offensive, retook Karabakh, and drove out over 100,000 ethnic Armenians while holding territory inside Armenia since 2021.
- September 2023 offensive in Karabakh drove out over 100,000 ethnic Armenians; the ICJ and UN bodies examined its conduct.
- The Aliyev family has ruled since 1993; elections judged unfree by the OSCE.
- Journalists and activists jailed; RFE/RL and other outlets closed 2024-2025.
- Oil and gas company SOCAR is state-owned and funds a sovereign fund.
- 11 RwandaClean and orderly at home, but takes its neighbour's minerals through the M23 war and allows no real opposition.⚔ Eastern DR Congoaggressor12%
Why 12%
- Justice1/5
- Protection of life1/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources0/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation1/5
- Kept covenants1/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity1/5
- Religious freedom3/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
Marks 27% − 15 for each war it started, provoked or joined (Eastern DR Congo) = 12%. Ranked below every nation that started no war.
- Gold and minerals from M23-held Congo routed to Rwanda; US sanctions on a Rwandan refinery (June 2026).
- Has not withdrawn its troops as the Washington Accords require.
- Low domestic corruption; Kagame re-elected with over 99% of the vote.
- 12 MoroccoIs stable and runs a state phosphate industry, but it holds Western Sahara by force against the UN's promised referendum, exploits its resources, and a king rules above the elected government.13%
Why 13%
- Justice0/5
- Protection of life2/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources1/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation1/5
- Kept covenants1/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity1/5
- Religious freedom2/5
- Sharia3/5
Marks 28% − 15 for each war it started, provoked or joined (Western Sahara, 1975 to the present) = 13%. Ranked below every nation that started no war.
- Western Sahara, 1975 to the present: Holds about four-fifths of Western Sahara by force, administers it as its own territory and has not held the UN referendum promised in 1991.
- Controls most of Western Sahara since 1975; the promised 1991 UN referendum on its future was never held, and the EU's top court (2024) ruled EU trade deals cannot cover the territory without Sahrawi consent.
- OCP, the state phosphate company, holds a large share of the world's reserves.
- Joined the Saudi-led Yemen coalition in 2015 and withdrew in 2019; normalised ties with Israel in December 2020.
- The king holds the decisive powers; journalists have been jailed and Pegasus spyware use against critics has been alleged.
- 13 United KingdomIndependent courts, a free press and a free vote, but it runs on interest-bearing debt and the City's speculation, struck Syria and Yemen without a UN mandate, and arms Israel's war while watching its citizens at scale.13%
Why 13%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life2/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources1/5
- Accountability4/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants2/5
- Independence4/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia1/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (1/5; alignment requires 3).
Marks 43% − 15 for each war it started, provoked or joined (Syria, 2018; Yemen, 2024) = 13%. Ranked below every nation that started no war.
- Syria, 2018: Joined US and French missile strikes on Syrian government sites on 14 April 2018 without a UN mandate.
- Yemen, 2024: Joined US strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen from 11 January 2024.
- Struck Syrian government sites with the US and France in April 2018 and Houthi targets in Yemen from January 2024 without Security Council approval.
- The Investigatory Powers Act 2016 permits bulk interception of communications; the Chagos Islands handover deal was signed in 2025.
- Water companies were privatised in 1989; Thames Water was on the brink of failure in 2025 under heavy debt.
- The Post Office Horizon scandal wrongly convicted hundreds of sub-postmasters; a public inquiry continues.
- 14 South SudanWon its independence through a long struggle and has signed peace deals, but its leaders have looted the oil, broken their agreements and plunged the country back into war.15%
Why 15%
- Justice0/5
- Protection of life0/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth0/5
- Common resources1/5
- Accountability0/5
- Consultation0/5
- Kept covenants1/5
- Independence1/5
- Dignity1/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- The 2018 peace agreement has been repeatedly delayed; elections were postponed to December 2026.
- First Vice President Riek Machar was placed under house arrest in March 2025 and charged with treason, and fighting with his forces resumed.
- Oil revenue is largely pledged to oil-backed loans and a few elites; UN panels have documented diversion of funds.
- UN Commission on Human Rights found ethnic violence, sexual violence against civilians and a famine risk.
- 15 HaitiA people with a proud history of throwing off slavery and foreign rule — but its state has collapsed, gangs hold most of the capital, and it rests on foreign security forces and aid.17%
Why 17%
- Justice1/5
- Protection of life1/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth0/5
- Common resources1/5
- Accountability0/5
- Consultation0/5
- Kept covenants1/5
- Independence0/5
- Dignity1/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- No elected president or parliament since 2021 (the president was assassinated in July 2021); elections repeatedly postponed.
- Gangs control most of Port-au-Prince; thousands killed and over a million displaced (UN).
- A foreign-led Gang Suppression Force authorised by the UN Security Council in 2025.
- Depends on aid and remittances; one of the poorest countries in the Americas; Haitian migrants face mass deportation from the Dominican Republic.
- 16 IndiaHolds elections and its own strength, but treats its Muslims as suspects, has taken control of their endowments and uses water as a weapon against Pakistan.⚔ Kashmir, India and Pakistanaggressor17%
Why 17%
- Justice1/5
- Protection of life2/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability2/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants0/5
- Independence4/5
- Dignity1/5
- Religious freedom1/5
- Sharia2/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (2/5; alignment requires 3).
Marks 32% − 15 for each war it started, provoked or joined (Kashmir, India and Pakistan) = 17%. Ranked below every nation that started no war.
- Holds the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance and rejected the August 2026 arbitration ruling.
- The Waqf (Amendment) Act 2025 placed Muslim endowments under state control.
- Demolitions, mass arrests and barred Eid prayers in Kashmir; citizenship law excluding Muslims.
- Among the world's widest wealth gaps; public assets concentrated in a few conglomerates.
- 17 BahrainIs a hub of Islamic finance, but a king rules without a free vote, crushed its 2011 uprising, strips citizenship from critics, joined the Yemen war and depends on Saudi money and the US Navy.18%
Why 18%
- Justice1/5
- Protection of life1/5
- No riba2/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation1/5
- Kept covenants2/5
- Independence1/5
- Dignity1/5
- Religious freedom3/5
- Sharia3/5
Marks 33% − 15 for each war it started, provoked or joined (Yemen, 2015 to the present) = 18%. Ranked below every nation that started no war.
- Yemen, 2015 to the present: Joined the Saudi-led coalition in March 2015, sending warplanes and troops to a war on Yemen that has killed tens of thousands of civilians.
- Suppressed the 2011 uprising with help from Saudi forces; the main opposition societies were dissolved in 2016 and 2017.
- Has revoked the citizenship of hundreds of critics and opposition figures.
- Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait gave a $10 billion bailout in 2018; the US Fifth Fleet is based there.
- Joined the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen from 2015 and normalised relations with Israel in September 2020.
- 18 Central African RepublicKeeps its government and signs peace deals with armed groups, but the state controls little of the country, depends on Russian fighters and UN troops, and its president changed the constitution for a third term.18%
Why 18%
- Justice1/5
- Protection of life1/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth0/5
- Common resources1/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation1/5
- Kept covenants2/5
- Independence0/5
- Dignity1/5
- Religious freedom2/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- A 2023 referendum removed term limits; President Touadéra won a third term in December 2025.
- Russian Wagner and later Africa Corps fighters are present and accused of abuses, including at Ndassima.
- UN peacekeepers (MINUSCA) are central to security outside the capital.
- Diamond and gold mining is largely outside state control and partly in foreign hands, with Russian-linked firms holding concessions.
- 19 Equatorial GuineaHas a rich seabed of oil and gas, but Teodoro Obiang has held power since 1979, the family spends the wealth abroad and opponents are jailed.18%
Why 18%
- Justice0/5
- Protection of life2/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth0/5
- Common resources1/5
- Accountability0/5
- Consultation0/5
- Kept covenants2/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity0/5
- Religious freedom3/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Teodoro Obiang has been president since 1979, the longest-serving head of state in the world besides monarchs.
- Elections return him with over 90% of the vote; opposition parties are repressed.
- French, Swiss and US courts have seized assets and mansions bought with state funds by his son Teodorin.
- Oil income is among the highest per head in Africa, yet most people lack basic services.
- 20 NicaraguaKeeps social programmes and some independence from Washington, but a family dictatorship has jailed opponents, closed churches and universities, stripped citizenship and ended free elections.18%
Why 18%
- Justice1/5
- Protection of life1/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability0/5
- Consultation0/5
- Kept covenants1/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity0/5
- Religious freedom1/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Opposition candidates jailed before the 2021 election; hundreds of critics stripped of nationality in 2023.
- The 2018 crackdown on protests left over 300 dead (IACHR).
- Co-presidency of Ortega and Murillo set by constitutional change in 2025.
- Catholic clergy imprisoned or expelled and religious groups and charities shut down.
- 21 BelarusKeeps state ownership of key industry and a basic social floor, but one man has ruled since 1994, protesters were beaten and jailed after 2020, and it lent its soil to Russia's invasion.20%
Why 20%
- Justice1/5
- Protection of life1/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources3/5
- Accountability0/5
- Consultation0/5
- Kept covenants1/5
- Independence1/5
- Dignity0/5
- Religious freedom2/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- 2020 election widely held to be rigged; thousands arrested and torture documented (OHCHR, 2020-2021).
- Allowed Russian forces to attack Ukraine from its territory in February 2022 and hosts Russian nuclear weapons (2023).
- Engineered the 2021 migrant crossing on the Polish and Lithuanian borders (EU findings).
- Large state-owned industrial sector, but heavily dependent on Russian loans and energy.
- 22 El SalvadorCut gang killings sharply and built its own policy, but it holds tens of thousands without trial under an endless emergency, removed term limits, and tied itself to speculative bitcoin and IMF terms.20%
Why 20%
- Justice1/5
- Protection of life1/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources1/5
- Accountability0/5
- Consultation0/5
- Kept covenants2/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity0/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- State of emergency since March 2022 with tens of thousands detained; rights groups document arbitrary arrests and deaths in custody.
- Constitutional change in 2025 allowed indefinite presidential re-election.
- Adopted bitcoin as legal tender in 2021, reversed under an IMF programme in 2025.
- Holds migrants deported by the United States in its prison under a paid arrangement.
- 23 BurundiKeeps its own army home and tolerates a large Muslim and Christian public life, but one party holds every seat, the economy is among the poorest and critics disappear.22%
Why 22%
- Justice1/5
- Protection of life1/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources1/5
- Accountability0/5
- Consultation0/5
- Kept covenants2/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity1/5
- Religious freedom3/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- In the June 2025 elections the ruling CNDD-FDD won every seat in the National Assembly.
- UN inquiry (2016–2021) documented killings, disappearances and torture by the security services and ruling party youth wing.
- Among the lowest per capita incomes in the world, with chronic fuel and foreign-currency shortages.
- Sent troops into eastern Congo from 2023 at the Congolese government's request.
- 24 CameroonHas one of the longest-ruling presidents in the world, now in his 90s, and a war in its English-speaking regions that has displaced hundreds of thousands, but it holds elections and has hosted refugees.23%
Why 23%
- Justice1/5
- Protection of life1/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability0/5
- Consultation0/5
- Kept covenants1/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity1/5
- Religious freedom3/5
- Sharia1/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (1/5; alignment requires 3).
- Paul Biya has ruled since 1982 and was declared winner of the October 2025 election; post-election protests were met with lethal force.
- The Anglophone conflict since 2016 has killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands, with abuses by both the army and separatists.
- Consistently low in corruption indices.
- Hosts refugees from Nigeria and the Central African Republic.
- 25 Guinea-BissauKeeps a fragile record of peaceful local politics and no foreign wars, but repeated coups, drug-trafficking infiltration of the army, and a military takeover in November 2025 leave rulers unanswerable.23%
Why 23%
- Justice1/5
- Protection of life2/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability0/5
- Consultation0/5
- Kept covenants1/5
- Independence1/5
- Dignity1/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Military officers seized power in November 2025, around the announcement of election results.
- Long history of coups and a reputation as a transit route for cocaine with military involvement.
- Among the poorest countries; the economy relies on cashew exports and aid.
- Parliament was dissolved by the president in 2023, leading to a prolonged institutional crisis.
- 26 PakistanMet India's strikes with a ceasefire and has a court-ordered path out of riba — but it opened a bombing war on Afghanistan in 2026, the army rules over the ballot, debt ties it to the IMF, and Ahmadis and Afghan refugees bear the cost.Kashmir, India and Pakistan⚔ Pakistan and Afghanistanaggressor23%
Why 23%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life2/5
- No riba3/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation1/5
- Kept covenants4/5
- Independence1/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom1/5
- Sharia3/5
Marks 38% − 15 for each war it started, provoked or joined (Pakistan and Afghanistan) = 23%. Ranked below every nation that started no war.
- The Federal Shariat Court ordered riba-free banking (2022); the 2024 constitutional amendment set 2028 as the deadline.
- Honours the Indus Waters Treaty and accepted the May 2025 ceasefire and mediation.
- A $7 billion IMF programme with privatisation conditions; heavy external debt.
- Military dominance of politics, a jailed former prime minister and amendments curbing the courts; mass deportation of Afghan refugees.
- Struck Afghanistan first in February 2026 and has bombed it since, Kabul included; at least 372 Afghan civilians killed by May (UNAMA).
- 27 Saudi ArabiaCollects zakat as a state and keeps its oil in public hands, but rules without consultation, silences critics and bombed Yemen for a decade.⚔ The Iran war: Iran, Israel, Palestine, the United States and Yemenaggressor23%
Why 23%
- Justice1/5
- Protection of life1/5
- No riba2/5
- Circulation of wealth3/5
- Common resources3/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation1/5
- Kept covenants2/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity1/5
- Religious freedom1/5
- Sharia4/5
Marks 38% − 15 for each war it started, provoked or joined (The Iran war: Iran, Israel, Palestine, the United States and Yemen) = 23%. Ranked below every nation that started no war.
- Zakat collected by the state (ZATCA); Islamic banking dominant, though the state also borrows on interest.
- Aramco majority state-owned.
- Absolute monarchy with an appointed Shura Council; dissidents jailed and executed.
- Led the Yemen war since 2015 and ended the 2022 truce by striking Sanaa airport in July 2026.
- 28 TajikistanHas kept the peace since its civil war and built its own hydropower, but the same ruler has held office since 1992, now grooms his son, and bans the hijab and restricts children from mosques.23%
Why 23%
- Justice1/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability0/5
- Consultation0/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity0/5
- Religious freedom1/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Emomali Rahmon has ruled since 1992 and removed presidential term limits for himself.
- Law on traditions (2024) banned clothing described as foreign, including the hijab; beards and children's mosque attendance are restricted.
- Rogun dam is being built largely with state and public funds.
- Pamiri protesters in Gorno-Badakhshan were killed in 2022 and activists jailed.
- 29 VenezuelaHolds the world's largest oil reserves in public hands and resisted foreign pressure, but its rulers disregard the ballot, repress opponents, and its people are impoverished and have fled in millions.23%
Why 23%
- Justice1/5
- Protection of life1/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources3/5
- Accountability0/5
- Consultation0/5
- Kept covenants1/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity1/5
- Religious freedom3/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Disputed July 2024 presidential election; the government declared victory without publishing full results.
- UN fact-finding mission documented crimes against humanity in repression of dissent.
- Over seven million people have left the country since 2014.
- Oil is state-owned through PDVSA; US sanctions have cut revenues.
- 30 CambodiaPeaceful for most of a generation and ending a border clash by ceasefire, but power has stayed in one family for forty years, the opposition was banned and scam compounds run with impunity.25%
Why 25%
- Justice1/5
- Protection of life2/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources1/5
- Accountability0/5
- Consultation0/5
- Kept covenants2/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity1/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Hun Sen ruled 1985–2023 and handed the premiership to his son Hun Manet.
- Main opposition Candlelight Party barred before the 2023 election.
- Land grabs and forced evictions documented by rights groups; economy tied to Chinese investment.
- Border fighting with Thailand in July 2025 ended in a ceasefire; online scam compounds have drawn UN and US sanctions.
- 31 FranceElected institutions, strong courts and a public-service tradition, but it struck Syria and Libya without UN backing, props up African regimes through the CFA franc legacy, and its banks run on interest.25%
Why 25%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life2/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants2/5
- Independence4/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom2/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
Marks 40% − 15 for each war it started, provoked or joined (Syria, 2018) = 25%. Ranked below every nation that started no war.
- Syria, 2018: Joined US and British missile strikes on Syrian government sites on 14 April 2018 without a UN mandate.
- Joined US and UK strikes on Syria in April 2018 without a UN mandate.
- The CFA franc remains pegged to the euro with French Treasury backing; French troops left Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad and Senegal bases 2022–2025.
- The 2021 law against 'separatism' and the 2004 headscarf ban in schools restrict visible religion; mosques were closed after 2020.
- Strong welfare state: universal health cover and one of the highest public spending shares in Europe.
- 32 ChadHosts hundreds of thousands of Sudanese refugees and keeps oil under state hands, but a dynasty took over by army decree in 2021, the main opposition leader was jailed, and the constitution was changed to remove term limits.27%
Why 27%
- Justice1/5
- Protection of life2/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources3/5
- Accountability0/5
- Consultation0/5
- Kept covenants2/5
- Independence1/5
- Dignity1/5
- Religious freedom3/5
- Sharia1/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (1/5; alignment requires 3).
- The army installed Mahamat Idriss Déby as head of state after his father's death in April 2021.
- Opposition leader Succès Masra was sentenced to 20 years in prison in August 2025.
- A 2025 constitutional change removed presidential term limits.
- Hosts large numbers of refugees from Sudan's war in the east.
- 33 LaosAt peace and with its land and rivers largely state-held, but a single party rules, it owes China a debt it cannot easily carry, and it dams the Mekong for foreign electricity sales.27%
Why 27%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources1/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation0/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence1/5
- Dignity1/5
- Religious freedom2/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Lao People's Revolutionary Party is the only legal party.
- Public debt above 100 percent of GDP, mostly owed to China (World Bank, 2024).
- Electricity grid partly run by a China-majority company after a 2020 deal.
- Disappearance of activist Sombath Somphone (2012) never resolved.
- 34 MozambiqueKept its 2019 peace deal and brought many fighters back to civilian life, but the 2024 election was disputed and met with deadly force, hidden debts were never fully answered for, and its gas goes to foreign firms.27%
Why 27%
- Justice1/5
- Protection of life1/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources1/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation1/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence1/5
- Dignity1/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- 2019 peace agreement with Renamo and disarmament of its fighters.
- 2024 election disputed by the opposition; security forces killed hundreds of protesters in the unrest that followed (rights groups).
- Hidden 'tuna bond' loans (2013-2016) crashed its economy and led to an IMF suspension.
- Offshore and onshore gas projects led by foreign companies such as TotalEnergies; insurgency in Cabo Delgado since 2017.
- 35 AngolaHas settled its civil war and keeps oil in state hands, but one party has ruled since 1975, wealth sits with a narrow elite, and debt to China and the IMF binds its revenues.28%
Why 28%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life2/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources1/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation2/5
- Kept covenants2/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity1/5
- Religious freedom2/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- MPLA in power since independence in 1975; the 2022 election was contested by the opposition.
- Oil revenue largely pledged to repay Chinese loans; an IMF programme and later exit from OPEC (2024).
- Most people live in poverty while a small elite, including the former president's family, holds great wealth.
- Closed hundreds of places of worship and mosques in 2019-2020, and has denied recognition to Islam as a religion.
- 36 Burkina FasoHas taken back its gold from foreign companies and broken with France, but a junta rules with no consent and its forces kill civilians.The Sahel: Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger28%
Why 28%
- Justice1/5
- Protection of life1/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources4/5
- Accountability0/5
- Consultation0/5
- Kept covenants1/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity1/5
- Religious freedom3/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Nationalised gold mines and built a state refinery under Captain Traoré.
- Military rule extended to 2029; parties suspended.
- Army, VDP militias and Russia's Africa Corps accused of atrocities against civilians.
- 37 EswatiniProvides for its people through traditional land custom and royal funds, but an absolute monarch appoints the government, bans political parties and has met protest with live fire.28%
Why 28%
- Justice1/5
- Protection of life2/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation0/5
- Kept covenants2/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity1/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- King Mswati III rules by decree; political parties barred from contesting elections.
- Security forces killed dozens of protesters in 2021 (rights groups) and opposition MPs have been jailed.
- Much land and the Tibiyo Taka Ngwane fund are held in trust by the king.
- Among the world's highest income-inequality rates; many live in poverty and rely on remittances.
- 38 HondurasReturned to elected rule after the 2009 coup and has begun to confront corruption, but gangs, poverty and a captured justice system continue, and indebted finance and US influence limit its independence.28%
Why 28%
- Justice1/5
- Protection of life2/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources1/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation2/5
- Kept covenants2/5
- Independence1/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Military coup in 2009 removed an elected president.
- Among the highest homicide rates in the region and widespread extreme poverty.
- Former president Juan Orlando Hernandez was convicted in a US court in 2024 of drug trafficking.
- Land and water defenders, such as Berta Caceres (killed 2016), have been murdered.
- 39 IranSelf-reliant under sanctions, with oil in public hands and a usury-free banking law — but it executes and crushes dissent, vets who may stand for office, and fought for Assad's war on the Syrian people.The Iran war: Iran, Israel, Palestine, the United States and Yemen28%
Why 28%
- Justice1/5
- Protection of life2/5
- No riba3/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources3/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation2/5
- Kept covenants2/5
- Independence4/5
- Dignity1/5
- Religious freedom1/5
- Sharia4/5
Marks 43% − 15 for each war it started, provoked or joined (Syria, 2011–2024) = 28%. Ranked below every nation that started no war.
- Syria, 2011–2024: Sent the IRGC's Quds Force and raised Hezbollah, Iraqi and Afghan (Fatemiyoun) militias to fight for Assad's war on his own people, and kept his regime afloat with billions in credit — through the starvation sieges of Madaya and Zabadani and the fall of east Aleppo in 2016, which the UN Commission of Inquiry found marked by war crimes.
- Usury-free Banking Law (1983), though many products work like interest in practice.
- Oil and gas are state-owned; much wealth sits in elite-controlled foundations (bonyads).
- Built its own defence industry under decades of sanctions.
- UN-backed mission (September 2026): crimes against humanity in the crackdown on protesters; candidates vetted by the Guardian Council.
- 40 KuwaitKeeps its oil in public hands, runs a zakat house and Islamic banks, but its emir suspended parliament in 2024, thousands lost their citizenship and the stateless Bidun remain without rights.28%
Why 28%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life2/5
- No riba2/5
- Circulation of wealth3/5
- Common resources3/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation1/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity1/5
- Religious freedom2/5
- Sharia3/5
Marks 43% − 15 for each war it started, provoked or joined (Yemen, 2015–2019) = 28%. Ranked below every nation that started no war.
- Yemen, 2015–2019: Joined the Saudi-led coalition in March 2015, sending warplanes and ground troops to a war against Yemen's Houthi-controlled north, and kept forces in the campaign into 2019.
- The emir suspended parliament in May 2024 for up to four years, ending one of the Gulf's few elected legislatures.
- Oil is state-owned and a large sovereign wealth fund holds the proceeds; Zakat House collects and distributes zakat.
- Thousands of Kuwaitis had their citizenship withdrawn in 2024 and 2025, and about 100,000 stateless Bidun lack full rights.
- Sent aircraft and troops to the Saudi-led Yemen coalition from 2015.
- 41 MaliReclaimed control of its mines from foreign firms, but dissolved its parties and lets Russian fighters massacre its own villagers.The Sahel: Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger28%
Why 28%
- Justice1/5
- Protection of life1/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources4/5
- Accountability0/5
- Consultation0/5
- Kept covenants1/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity1/5
- Religious freedom3/5
- Sharia1/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (1/5; alignment requires 3).
- New mining code and seizure of foreign-run gold operations.
- All political parties dissolved (2025); the junta governs without elections.
- Africa Corps massacre at Bombori with Malian soldiers present (HRW, August 2026).
- 42 NigerTook its uranium back from France, but a junta governs without consent and the war against the insurgents goes unchecked.The Sahel: Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger28%
Why 28%
- Justice1/5
- Protection of life1/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources4/5
- Accountability0/5
- Consultation0/5
- Kept covenants1/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity1/5
- Religious freedom3/5
- Sharia1/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (1/5; alignment requires 3).
- Nationalised the SOMAIR uranium mine from France's Orano.
- Military rule since the 2023 coup; the elected president still detained.
- 43 Republic of the CongoKeeps clear of regional wars and holds its own oil revenues, but Denis Sassou Nguesso has ruled for most of the time since 1979 and the oil wealth has not reached the poor.28%
Why 28%
- Justice1/5
- Protection of life2/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation0/5
- Kept covenants2/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity1/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Denis Sassou Nguesso has been president since 1997 (and 1979–1992); a 2015 constitutional change removed his term limit.
- Oil provides most of exports and state revenue; the state oil company has been hit by corruption cases and debt-backed oil advances.
- A large share of the population lives in poverty despite oil income.
- Congolese forces have not fought outside the country in this period.
- 44 TogoKeeps the peace with its neighbours and has built a port and trade hub, but one family has ruled for nearly sixty years and rewrote the constitution in 2024-25 to keep power.28%
Why 28%
- Justice1/5
- Protection of life2/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation0/5
- Kept covenants2/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity1/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Faure Gnassingbé has held power since 2005, following his father's rule from 1967.
- A 2024 constitution moved to a parliamentary system and in 2025 made him President of the Council of Ministers without term limits.
- Protests in June 2025 were met with deadly force, according to rights groups.
- Internet restrictions and arrests of critics have been documented around elections.
- 45 TurkmenistanGives citizens free or heavily subsidised gas, water and electricity and keeps strict neutrality, but one family rules without any real vote, the press is shut and the gas export revenue is held by the ruler.28%
Why 28%
- Justice1/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources3/5
- Accountability0/5
- Consultation0/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity0/5
- Religious freedom1/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Recognised by the UN as permanently neutral (1995).
- Natural gas is state-owned; household utilities are heavily subsidised.
- Power passed from Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov to his son Serdar in 2022 in an election with no real opposition.
- Among the lowest-ranked states for press freedom and for religious freedom.
- 46 UgandaTakes in more refugees than almost any state and keeps the peace with neighbours, but one man has ruled since 1986, the opposition is jailed and the oil is tied to foreign firms.28%
Why 28%
- Justice1/5
- Protection of life2/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources1/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation0/5
- Kept covenants2/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity1/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia1/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (1/5; alignment requires 3).
- Yoweri Museveni has been president since 1986; the age and term limits were removed from the constitution in 2005 and 2017.
- Opposition leader Kizza Besigye was seized abroad and tried in a military court in 2024 and 2025.
- The East African Crude Oil Pipeline and oilfields are held largely by TotalEnergies and CNOOC.
- Hosts over 1.5 million refugees under an open-settlement policy.
- 47 UkraineDefends its land against an invasion, but has fought it as the instrument of a war the United States provoked: a government that came to power with Washington's hand in 2014, Minsk left unkept, a war run on foreign money and decisions, its minerals pledged abroad and elections postponed.Russia and Ukraine28%
Why 28%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources1/5
- Accountability2/5
- Consultation1/5
- Kept covenants1/5
- Independence0/5
- Dignity1/5
- Religious freedom3/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Fighting an invasion the UN General Assembly condemned; strikes inside Russia mainly at military and energy targets.
- Its 2014 government came to power after US diplomats were recorded choosing its leaders; it then pursued the NATO membership that was Russia's brightest red line.
- The Minsk agreements were never carried out — Merkel later said they gave Ukraine 'time' to grow stronger.
- UN monitors documented civilian deaths from its forces' shelling in the Donbas, 2014–2021.
- Fights on interest-bearing foreign loans and US decisions; the 2025 minerals agreement gives the United States a share of future resource revenue.
- Corruption cases in the energy sector (2025) pursued by its anti-corruption bureau; elections postponed under martial law.
- Laws narrowing the Russian language, Russian-language channels taken off air, and restrictions on the Moscow-linked Orthodox church.
- 48 ZimbabweReclaimed land from a settler minority and endures sanctions, but ZANU-PF has ruled since 1980 through disputed elections, the currency has collapsed again and again, and critics are jailed.28%
Why 28%
- Justice1/5
- Protection of life2/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation1/5
- Kept covenants1/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity1/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- ZANU-PF in power since 1980; the 2023 election criticised by SADC and EU observers.
- Repeated currency collapses (2008, 2019) and a new gold-backed currency (ZiG) introduced in 2024.
- Gukurahundi killings in Matabeleland (1980s) remain unacknowledged and unremedied.
- Fast-track land reform from 2000 redistributed farmland, but compensation and tenure disputes persist; activists and journalists arrested.
- 49 GuatemalaHolds elections and defended a free vote against attempts to overturn it in 2023, but its poor majority, especially Indigenous people, gets little, and prosecutors have been used against reformers.30%
Why 30%
- Justice1/5
- Protection of life2/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth0/5
- Common resources1/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation2/5
- Kept covenants2/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Around half of children are chronically malnourished; Indigenous communities hold little land.
- The attorney general faced US and EU sanctions for efforts to block the 2023 transfer of power.
- Mining and hydroelectric concessions have been granted over Indigenous objections.
- Remittances from the United States make up a large share of national income.
- 50 GuineaHolds some of the world's largest bauxite and iron ore and has pressed mining firms for more local benefit, but a 2021 coup, banned protests and an elected-by-the-junta leader leave consent and accountability thin.30%
Why 30%
- Justice1/5
- Protection of life1/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources3/5
- Accountability0/5
- Consultation1/5
- Kept covenants1/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity1/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia1/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (1/5; alignment requires 3).
- Colonel Mamadi Doumbouya seized power in a coup in September 2021.
- Authorities withdrew licences of mining firms that failed to build local refining and transferred the Simandou project's benefits under new terms.
- Security forces killed protesters during demonstrations against the junta in 2022-2024, according to rights groups.
- A presidential election in December 2025 gave the coup leader a large majority under a new constitution.
- 51 PeruKeeps elections and a strong mining economy, but presidents are repeatedly removed or jailed for corruption, forces killed protesters in 2022–2023, and mineral wealth leaves while Indigenous communities stay poor.30%
Why 30%
- Justice1/5
- Protection of life2/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources1/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation2/5
- Kept covenants2/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Six presidents in about a decade; several former presidents prosecuted or jailed.
- Security forces killed around 50 protesters in 2022–2023 (IACHR, UN).
- Mining and oil concessions to foreign firms over Indigenous objections.
- Founded on free-market rules with a constitution of 1993 that favours private investment.
- 52 QatarMediates between warring sides, keeps its gas in state hands and has a large Islamic banking sector, but an emir rules without a free vote, migrant workers live under kafala and it briefly joined the Yemen war.30%
Why 30%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life2/5
- No riba3/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources3/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation1/5
- Kept covenants4/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity1/5
- Religious freedom2/5
- Sharia3/5
Marks 45% − 15 for each war it started, provoked or joined (Yemen, 2015–2017) = 30%. Ranked below every nation that started no war.
- Yemen, 2015–2017: Sent troops and aircraft to the Saudi-led coalition from 2015; the force was withdrawn in June 2017 when Saudi Arabia and its allies cut ties with Doha.
- Hosted the US-Taliban Doha agreement (2020) and has mediated over Gaza, Sudan and the DRC.
- QatarEnergy, the state company, runs the gas that supplies the state's wealth; it survived the 2017-2021 Saudi-led blockade with its independence intact.
- Islamic banks hold a large share of the banking system, though the state invests heavily in interest-bearing assets.
- Migrant workers, most of the workforce, remain under the sponsorship system, and the emir holds the decisive power.
- 53 DR CongoDefends its land and signs every peace deal, but its people live in extreme poverty on top of the world's minerals, traded to foreign powers for security.Eastern DR Congo32%
Why 32%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life2/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth0/5
- Common resources1/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation2/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence1/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Signed the Washington Accords and the Doha framework (2025).
- Minerals-for-security dealings with the United States; Chinese-owned mines dominate cobalt.
- Most of its people live in extreme poverty; low scores on corruption indices.
- 54 MadagascarHas ancient claims to its own resources and a restless people who forced out a failing government, but an army colonel took power in October 2025, and most Malagasy live in poverty.32%
Why 32%
- Justice1/5
- Protection of life2/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation1/5
- Kept covenants2/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Young protesters demanded an end to power and water cuts from September 2025; security forces killed protesters, the UN reported at least 22 dead.
- In October 2025 an elite army unit took sides with the protesters, President Rajoelina fled and Colonel Michael Randrianirina took power.
- About 80% of Malagasy live below the poverty line despite rich minerals and vanilla exports.
- Mines for nickel, cobalt and ilmenite are run by foreign firms under long concessions.
- 55 Bosnia and HerzegovinaPeace holds under the Dayton settlement and elections are held, but an unelected international overseer, ethnic carve-up of office and the convicted separatist leader of Republika Srpska weaken self-rule.33%
Why 33%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation1/5
- Kept covenants2/5
- Independence0/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- An international High Representative has had power to impose laws since 1995.
- Sejdić-Finci ruling (ECHR, 2009) against ethnic office quotas has never been implemented.
- Milorad Dodik was convicted in 2025 for defying the High Representative.
- Corruption and unemployment high; many young people emigrate.
- 56 DjiboutiMakes peace with its neighbours and earns rent from its ports, but one family has ruled since 1999, foreign bases fill the coastline and wealth is concentrated.33%
Why 33%
- Justice1/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba2/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources1/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation0/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence1/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom3/5
- Sharia2/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (2/5; alignment requires 3).
- Ismail Omar Guelleh has been president since 1999; elections have been won by large margins amid opposition boycotts.
- Hosts bases of the United States, France, China, Japan and others, paid for as rent.
- Settled the border dispute with Eritrea through Qatari mediation, and Eritrea left Doumeira in 2018.
- Port and rail assets are heavily financed by Chinese loans; public debt is high.
- 57 EthiopiaBuilds its own dam and industry on the Nile with its own money, but the Tigray war left hundreds of thousands dead, Amhara and Oromia are in conflict, and the press and opposition are squeezed.33%
Why 33%
- Justice1/5
- Protection of life1/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources3/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation1/5
- Kept covenants1/5
- Independence4/5
- Dignity1/5
- Religious freedom3/5
- Sharia2/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (2/5; alignment requires 3).
- The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, largely self-financed by public bonds and donations, was inaugurated in September 2025.
- The Pretoria agreement (November 2022) ended the Tigray war, in which an estimated several hundred thousand died; its terms are only partly carried out.
- Fighting continues in Amhara and Oromia; journalists and opposition figures have been detained.
- The state owns land and the telecoms and power sectors, but is in debt restructuring with creditors and the IMF.
- 58 KyrgyzstanHas had popular uprisings that changed its rulers and keeps open borders, but power is drifting back to one man, journalists are prosecuted and its economy leans on remittances and Russia.33%
Why 33%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation1/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity1/5
- Religious freedom2/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Governments fell to street protests in 2005, 2010 and 2020.
- Signed the March 2025 border treaty with Tajikistan after clashes in 2021 and 2022.
- Media outlets closed and journalists prosecuted since 2024 under the Sadyr Japarov government.
- Remittances from migrants in Russia make up a very large share of national income.
- 59 TanzaniaKeeps unity between mainland and Zanzibar and has stayed out of foreign wars, but the October 2025 election was marked by killings and an internet shutdown, and the main opposition was shut out.33%
Why 33%
- Justice1/5
- Protection of life1/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation0/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity1/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia2/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (2/5; alignment requires 3).
- The October 2025 presidential election gave President Samia Suluhu Hassan about 98%, with the main opposition party excluded and its leader Tundu Lissu on trial.
- Security forces killed protesters after the vote; rights groups and the opposition reported hundreds of dead, which the government disputes.
- One party has governed since independence; mining codes were tightened in 2017 to raise the state's share of minerals.
- Has not joined any foreign war since the 1979 Uganda campaign.
- 60 CubaFree healthcare and schooling, and a long refusal to bow to a foreign embargo — but a single party rules without a free vote, protesters are jailed and the economy is in deep shortage.35%
Why 35%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth3/5
- Common resources3/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation0/5
- Kept covenants2/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity1/5
- Religious freedom2/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- One-party state; the Communist Party is the only party allowed under the constitution.
- Hundreds jailed after the July 2021 protests (UN and Human Rights Watch).
- Universal state healthcare and education; but power cuts, food shortages and mass emigration since 2021.
- Withstood the US embargo for over sixty years; economy state-run, with debt arrears and Russian and Venezuelan support.
- 61 EcuadorElected governments and a record of rights-of-nature law, but organised crime has overwhelmed it, security forces face abuse claims, and debt and dollarisation bind its economy to Washington and the IMF.35%
Why 35%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life2/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability2/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants2/5
- Independence1/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Rights of nature written into the 2008 constitution.
- Uses the US dollar as its currency, which removes control over monetary policy.
- IMF programmes since 2020 with fiscal conditions; heavy foreign debt.
- Violent crime sharply increased; states of internal armed conflict declared in 2024.
- 62 GabonEnded a 55-year family dynasty and held a vote in 2025, but the general who led the 2023 coup became president and the oil and timber wealth still reaches few.35%
Why 35%
- Justice1/5
- Protection of life2/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability2/5
- Consultation2/5
- Kept covenants2/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- The Bongo family ruled from 1967 until the coup of August 2023.
- General Brice Oligui Nguema was elected president in April 2025 with about 90% of the vote.
- A new constitution approved by referendum in November 2024 limits the president to two seven-year terms.
- Oil and manganese dominate income; foreign firms hold much of the sector, and many Gabonese live in poverty.
- 63 IndonesiaA large democracy with state zakat bodies and a growing Islamic finance sector, but Papuans live under heavy security, protest crackdowns have killed people and money still moves by interest.35%
Why 35%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba2/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability2/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom3/5
- Sharia3/5
Marks 50% − 15 for each war it started, provoked or joined (West Papua, 1963–present) = 35%. Ranked below every nation that started no war.
- West Papua, 1963–present: Holds West Papua, annexed after the 1969 vote carried out under military pressure, and runs security operations against Papuan independence fighters and civilians.
- Direct elections since 1999; Prabowo Subianto elected president in 2024.
- BAZNAS collects national zakat; sharia banking is a small share of the sector.
- Papua held since the 1969 vote, with military operations and displacement reported by the UN.
- Police crackdown on protests in August 2025 left several dead.
- 64 Papua New GuineaRich in gold, gas and timber with a fiercely independent land-owning culture, but mining revenue leaks abroad, graft is widespread and tribal violence goes unchecked.35%
Why 35%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life2/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources1/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants2/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- About 80 percent of land is held under customary ownership by clans.
- The Panguna mine on Bougainville and its legacy led to a civil war; Bougainvilleans voted 98 percent for independence in 2019 and the result is still unresolved.
- Low scores on corruption indices; major gas and mining projects run by foreign firms.
- Mass tribal killings in Enga province in 2024 and a deadly Port Moresby riot in January 2024.
- Heavy borrowing from the IMF and a security deal with Australia.
- 65 TunisiaKeeps clear of foreign wars and refused the IMF's terms, but its president suspended parliament, rewrote the constitution, jails opponents and expelled sub-Saharan migrants into the desert.35%
Why 35%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation1/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity1/5
- Religious freedom3/5
- Sharia1/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (1/5; alignment requires 3).
- President Kais Saied suspended parliament in July 2021 and ruled by decree; a new constitution in 2022 gave him sweeping powers.
- Saied rejected the 2023 IMF reform conditions, but the state still carries heavy debt.
- Opposition leaders and journalists have been imprisoned; Saied was re-elected in October 2024 with about 90% of the vote on low turnout.
- Migrants were expelled to desert border areas in 2023, with deaths reported.
- 66 UzbekistanHas ended forced labour in cotton in large part, opened to its neighbours and keeps peace, but one party dominates the ballot, critics are jailed and finance and land remain tightly state-managed.35%
Why 35%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation1/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity1/5
- Religious freedom2/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- The ILO and the cotton campaign declared systemic forced labour in the harvest ended (2022).
- Karakalpakstan protests of July 2022: dozens killed and activists jailed.
- President Mirziyoyev re-elected in 2023 under a constitution that reset his terms; elections not judged competitive by OSCE.
- Resolved border disputes with Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan by agreement.
- 67 BeninOnce a model multiparty state with new roads, a port and a restituted royal heritage, but it has jailed opponents, narrowed the vote, and faced a coup attempt in December 2025.37%
Why 37%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation1/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Restitution of the Abomey royal treasures from France in 2021.
- Opposition leaders and critics, including Reckya Madougou, were convicted by a special court in 2021.
- Parliament elections in 2019 excluded the opposition and a 2024 reform changed the electoral rules.
- A failed coup attempt in December 2025 was put down with support from ECOWAS partners.
- 68 GeorgiaHosts free-trade flows and a high-growth economy, but the ruling party has curbed protests and press, passed a foreign-agents law and jailed opposition leaders.37%
Why 37%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation1/5
- Kept covenants2/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Protests after the November 2024 suspension of EU talks met with tear gas and mass arrests (HRW, Amnesty).
- The 2024 'foreign influence' law and 2025 follow-ups restrict media and NGOs.
- Opposition leaders jailed in 2025.
- Russia holds Abkhazia and South Ossetia (about 20 percent of its land) since 2008.
- 69 GreeceAn elected state with strong family ties, but crushed by interest-bearing debt and a troika bailout that put its revenues under foreign control, with documented pushbacks of migrants at sea.37%
Why 37%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life2/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources1/5
- Accountability2/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom3/5
- Sharia1/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (1/5; alignment requires 3).
- Three bailouts from 2010 to 2018 totalling over EUR 260 billion came with privatisation of ports, airports and railways; the Piraeus port went to China's COSCO.
- The European Court of Human Rights ruled in January 2025 that Greece violated rights in the 2014 Farmakonisi pushback; the Pylos shipwreck of June 2023 killed over 600.
- The Tempi rail disaster of February 2023 killed 57 and exposed a coverup.
- Spyware wiretapping of journalists and politicians (Predator) came to light in 2022.
- 70 HungaryHas defended its borders and its own course against Brussels, but a state-captured media and business sphere, a ban on Pride and frozen EU funds mark weak accountability.37%
Why 37%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation2/5
- Kept covenants2/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom3/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Freedom House rates it only 'partly free'; media and public contracts concentrated among rulers' allies.
- 2025 law banning Pride marches drew EU and UN criticism.
- EU funds frozen over rule-of-law concerns since 2022.
- Buys Russian energy and keeps working ties with several powers rather than depending on one.
- 71 KazakhstanPeaceful with its neighbours, keeps a balanced foreign policy and gave up its Soviet nuclear arsenal, but oil is largely in foreign hands, power is held by one ruling circle and protest was met with lethal force.37%
Why 37%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation1/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom2/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- January 2022 unrest: security forces killed over 200 people, and Russian-led CSTO troops were called in.
- Large oil fields such as Tengiz and Kashagan are run by foreign consortia with state partners.
- Voluntarily gave up the nuclear weapons left on its soil after 1991.
- A 2022 referendum reset presidential terms; elections have not been judged competitive by OSCE observers.
- 72 NauruRecovering from the ruin of its phosphate, it has been paid to hold Australia's detainees on its soil, but it has been left with debts and a thin economy.37%
Why 37%
- Justice1/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources1/5
- Accountability2/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants2/5
- Independence1/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Phosphate mining stripped most of the island and the wealth was largely spent or lost.
- Hosts Australia's offshore processing centre for asylum seekers since 2001; refugees held in harsh conditions.
- Repeated changes of government and states of emergency in the 2010s; elections have continued.
- Switched recognition from Taiwan to China in January 2024.
- Reliant on Australian payments.
- 73 ParaguayHolds elections and works its own hydropower, but one party has ruled for most of its history, land is concentrated in a few hands, and the Itaipu terms favour its larger neighbour.37%
Why 37%
- Justice1/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation2/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- The Colorado Party has held power almost continuously since 1947 apart from 2008–2012.
- Among the most unequal land distributions in the world.
- Itaipu dam shared with Brazil under a 1973 treaty; revised terms disputed in 2019.
- Peasant land occupations met with evictions and killings.
- 74 ColombiaHas ended long war with the FARC through a peace agreement and holds regular elections, but violence against community leaders, armed groups, deep land inequality and US-linked security ties continue.38%
Why 38%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life2/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability2/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- The 2016 peace agreement with the FARC ended a conflict of over half a century, though implementation is slow.
- Hundreds of social leaders and former combatants have been killed since 2016.
- Highly unequal land ownership and one of the widest income gaps in the region.
- Elections are held freely and power has changed hands peacefully.
- 75 Dominican RepublicA growing economy with elected governments and a working peace — but it is entangled in interest-based debt, expels Haitian migrants in mass and its public contracts are tainted by corruption.38%
Why 38%
- Justice1/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability2/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity1/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Competitive elections; a 2024 presidential vote returned the sitting president.
- Mass deportations of Haitians, including people born in the Dominican Republic; a 2013 court ruling stripped citizenship from many descendants of migrants.
- Odebrecht bribery scandal (2017) touched senior officials; prosecutions limited.
- Tourism-led economy with growing interest-based public debt.
- 76 LebanonHas a plural parliament, free worship and has not started wars, but its banks collapsed through interest schemes, the Beirut port blast went unanswered for years and Israel occupies parts of its south.38%
Why 38%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources1/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence1/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia2/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (2/5; alignment requires 3).
- The financial collapse from 2019 wiped out savings after the central bank paid high interest on deposits and government debt; the state defaulted on its Eurobonds in 2020.
- The 4 August 2020 Beirut port explosion killed over 200 people; the investigation was blocked for years.
- Parliament and president are chosen through a power-sharing system among sects; it has no state army fighting beyond its borders.
- Israel has struck Lebanon repeatedly and held positions inside its territory despite the November 2024 ceasefire; migrant domestic workers remain under the kafala system.
- 77 NigeriaAfrica's largest economy has a non-interest banking window and contested elections that still change hands, but oil wealth leaves most citizens poor, security forces abuse civilians, and the state is deep in interest-bearing debt.38%
Why 38%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life2/5
- No riba2/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation2/5
- Kept covenants2/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom2/5
- Sharia2/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (2/5; alignment requires 3).
- Non-interest (Islamic) banking is regulated by the central bank and has operated alongside conventional banks since 2011.
- Power changed hands at the ballot in 2015 and 2023, though the 2023 election was disputed in court.
- Security forces have faced repeated findings of extrajudicial killings, including the 2020 Lekki shooting of protesters.
- Oil revenue is concentrated in a few hands while a large share of Nigerians live in poverty, and debt service takes a large share of revenue.
- 78 SerbiaKeeps its own course between East and West, but a ruling party dominates media and the state, protesters face force, and Kosovo and Bosnia agreements are kept grudgingly.38%
Why 38%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation2/5
- Kept covenants2/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Mass protests since the November 2024 Novi Sad station canopy collapse that killed 16; police and loyalist violence reported against demonstrators.
- Freedom House downgraded it to 'partly free'.
- Declines to join Western sanctions on Russia while negotiating EU accession.
- Kosovo normalisation deals signed (2023) but not implemented.
- 79 VietnamKept out of foreign wars, grows by its own industry and has cut poverty sharply, but a single party rules without competition and jails bloggers and activists.38%
Why 38%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources3/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation1/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence4/5
- Dignity1/5
- Religious freedom2/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Single-party state; National Assembly elections are managed by the Communist Party.
- Bloggers and activists jailed under vague 'abusing democratic freedoms' laws.
- State-owned enterprises hold land, energy and telecoms; land is formally owned by the people through the state.
- Poverty fell from over 50 percent in the 1990s to low single digits.
- 80 AlgeriaControls its hydrocarbons through a state company and carries little foreign debt, but the military-backed presidency crushed the Hirak, jails critics and has closed churches and prosecuted Ahmadis.40%
Why 40%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources3/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation1/5
- Kept covenants2/5
- Independence4/5
- Dignity1/5
- Religious freedom2/5
- Sharia2/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (2/5; alignment requires 3).
- Sonatrach, the state company, dominates oil and gas; a 51/49 rule keeps majority ownership of most strategic sectors in Algerian hands.
- Very low public external debt compared with its neighbours.
- The Hirak protest movement of 2019 was suppressed; President Tebboune was re-elected in September 2024 with about 84% of the vote.
- Broke relations with Morocco in 2021; Ahmadis have been prosecuted and many Protestant churches closed; migrants have been expelled to Niger.
- 81 ArgentinaAn elected government with strong courts and press, but it is in thrall to an IMF debt, has opened its resources and public firms to private sale, and cut social support for the poor.40%
Why 40%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources1/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence1/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- A $20 billion IMF programme agreed in 2025, its largest borrower from the Fund.
- Government pursues privatisation of state firms and deregulation of mining and energy.
- Poverty rose sharply after the 2023 austerity measures.
- Prosecuted junta leaders for the 1976–1983 dictatorship's crimes.
- 82 BulgariaElections are free and the press partly so, but repeated snap polls, entrenched graft, interest-based finance and heavy dependence on EU funds weaken it.40%
Why 40%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom3/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Held repeated snap elections after 2021; government formation has been unstable.
- Ranks near the bottom of the EU on corruption (Transparency International).
- Roma settlements face poverty and evictions, criticised by the Council of Europe.
- EU and NATO member.
- 83 Côte d'IvoireGrows fast on cocoa and public investment and has kept the peace since 2011, but it is tied to the French-backed CFA franc, its president took a fourth term, and rivals were barred from the 2025 vote.40%
Why 40%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability2/5
- Consultation1/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- President Alassane Ouattara won a fourth term in October 2025 after the main rivals were excluded from the ballot.
- The CFA franc, pegged to the euro, is managed with French treasury guarantees.
- Post-electoral violence in 2010-2011 killed about 3,000; reconciliation has been partial.
- One of the world's top cocoa growers while farmers receive a small share of the final price.
- 84 CyprusA parliamentary state whose north remains under Turkish occupation, with a banking sector that took interest-bearing deposits from abroad and a golden-passport scheme that sold citizenship.40%
Why 40%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability2/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants2/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Turkey has occupied the north since 1974; UN talks have repeatedly failed.
- The 2013 bailout imposed a bank deposit levy of up to 47.5 percent on large depositors.
- The 'golden passports' scheme was ended in 2020 after an Al Jazeera investigation.
- Hosts British sovereign bases at Akrotiri and Dhekelia.
- 85 LiberiaHas had peaceful handovers since its civil wars and is setting up a war crimes court, but it relies on foreign concessions, aid and the US dollar, and most of its people remain in poverty.40%
Why 40%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability2/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence1/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Peaceful transfers of power in 2018 and 2024, when George Weah accepted defeat to Joseph Boakai.
- A War and Economic Crimes Court was created by executive order in 2024 to try wartime atrocities.
- Long-term foreign concessions in rubber, timber and iron ore, and heavy reliance on aid and dollarised currency.
- Corruption cases and scandals continue to affect public trust despite anti-graft agencies.
- 86 MonacoA tiny hereditary principality with calm courts, but it rules by a prince, lives on casinos, tax shelter and property speculation, and depends on France for its defence.40%
Why 40%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life4/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability2/5
- Consultation1/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- The prince holds executive power; the National Council is elected but cannot override him.
- Casinos, luxury property and residents' tax exemption underpin the economy.
- France is responsible for Monaco's defence by treaty.
- Removed from the FATF grey list in 2024.
- 87 Solomon IslandsIts land stays in customary hands and it has avoided war since the early 2000s, but it signed a secret security pact with China, logging firms strip its forests and its governance is weak.40%
Why 40%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources1/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants2/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Most land is customary; large-scale logging by foreign firms has been the main export for decades.
- Switched recognition from Taiwan to China in 2019.
- Signed a security agreement with China in 2022, the text of which was kept private.
- Riots in Honiara in 2021 and 2006 after disputed elections.
- Regional Assistance Mission led by Australia kept order from 2003 to 2017.
- 88 BangladeshIts people removed a ruler who had gripped the state for fifteen years, and it shelters Rohingya refugees, but the old regime's killings are still being answered, interest-based debt is heavy and the state is slow to protect minorities.42%
Why 42%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life2/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability2/5
- Consultation2/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom3/5
- Sharia2/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (2/5; alignment requires 3).
- The student-led uprising of July-August 2024 ended Sheikh Hasina's rule; the UN estimates up to 1,400 were killed in the crackdown.
- In November 2025 a domestic tribunal convicted Hasina in absentia for crimes against humanity.
- Hosts around a million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar.
- Relies on IMF and multilateral loans; banking is largely interest-based with a parallel Islamic banking sector.
- 89 BhutanMeasures national wellbeing, protects its forests and has an elected parliament and low corruption, but its monarchy keeps the last word, it leans on India for security and sold hydropower, and it expelled its Nepali-speaking minority in the 1990s.42%
Why 42%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth3/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation2/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom2/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Constitution requires at least 60 percent of the land to remain under forest cover.
- Moved from absolute monarchy to a parliament in 2008 but the king remains head of state with major influence.
- Tens of thousands of Lhotshampa were expelled or fled in the early 1990s.
- Hydropower exports to India are the main source of revenue; India supplies much of its security and aid.
- 90 GuyanaA small democracy that took Venezuela's claim on its land to the ICJ instead of force, but it has handed its new oil wealth to foreign companies on generous terms and has a history of disputed elections.42%
Why 42%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life4/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources0/5
- Accountability2/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants4/5
- Independence1/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Brought Venezuela's claim to the Essequibo to the International Court of Justice in 2018.
- ExxonMobil-led consortium holds the Stabroek oil block under a 2016 production-sharing contract with low royalty.
- Disputed March 2020 election was resolved after a recount and court pressure.
- Oil revenue placed in a sovereign wealth fund.
- 91 LesothoA constitutional monarchy that has held elections and mediated coalitions, but it is wholly surrounded by South Africa, depends on customs revenue and remittances, and has a record of coups and political killings.42%
Why 42%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability2/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants2/5
- Independence1/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Elections held in 2017 and 2022; SADC mediated political crises after the 2014 coup attempt and 2017 killing of the army chief.
- Heavily dependent on Southern African Customs Union revenue and remittances from migrant workers in South Africa.
- Sells water to South Africa through the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, which displaced local communities.
- One of the world's highest HIV rates and widespread poverty; many people depend on social grants.
- 92 NepalA republic that has changed its rulers by vote and by protest and keeps peace with neighbours, but it is hostage to remittances and India's trade routes, and its parties are accused of corruption and patronage.42%
Why 42%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources3/5
- Accountability2/5
- Consultation2/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom3/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Abolished the monarchy in 2008 and adopted a republican constitution in 2015.
- Remittances make up roughly a quarter of national income.
- September 2025 youth protests over corruption and a social-media ban forced the prime minister to resign; dozens were killed.
- Hydropower is mostly state-owned or state-licensed, with export deals to India.
- 93 PhilippinesA lively democracy with a free press and respect for the 2016 arbitral ruling, but its drug war killed thousands, a former president awaits trial at the ICC, and its debts and bases tie it to others.42%
Why 42%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life2/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability2/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia2/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (2/5; alignment requires 3).
- Duterte's drug war (2016–2022) killed thousands by police and unknown gunmen; he was arrested in March 2025 on an ICC warrant.
- Won the 2016 arbitration against China over the South China Sea.
- Rotating political dynasties; corruption cases in flood-control projects.
- Hosts US forces at more bases under the EDCA agreement; Bangsamoro Muslim region gained self-rule in 2019.
- 94 Sierra LeoneRebuilt after its civil war with open politics and a working special court legacy, but disputed elections, corruption cases, and poverty on top of rich minerals leave its people short.42%
Why 42%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability2/5
- Consultation2/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- The Special Court for Sierra Leone (2002-2013) tried leaders of the civil war.
- The 2023 election was disputed by the opposition and observers raised concerns over the tallying.
- A coup attempt in November 2023 led to arrests and trials.
- Diamond, iron ore and rutile wealth coexists with widespread poverty.
- 95 Sri LankaVoted out its old ruling families peacefully in 2024 and has a long record of social spending, but it defaulted on foreign debt, lives under an IMF programme and has not answered for the abuses at the end of its civil war.42%
Why 42%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability2/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence1/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom2/5
- Sharia2/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (2/5; alignment requires 3).
- Defaulted on its foreign debt in 2022; now under an IMF programme with conditions on revenue and state firms.
- Peaceful change of government by election in 2024 after the 2022 protests.
- UN Human Rights Council reports document unresolved wartime abuses of 2009.
- Free public health and education since independence.
- 96 SurinameA multiethnic democracy that peacefully changed hands in 2020 and 2025, but it carries heavy debt, restructured under the IMF, with oil and gold licences offered to foreign firms and a past of dictatorship.42%
Why 42%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life4/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources1/5
- Accountability2/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence1/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Defaulted on foreign debt in 2020 and agreed an IMF programme in 2021.
- Former dictator Desi Bouterse was convicted of the December murders of 1982; he died in 2024.
- Offshore oil licences granted to TotalEnergies and APA.
- Peaceful transfers of power after the 2020 and 2025 elections.
- 97 ZambiaHas handed power peacefully between parties and returns to the ballot box, but defaulted on foreign debt in 2020, relies on foreign-owned copper mines and is tightening laws on speech.42%
Why 42%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability2/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants2/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Peaceful transfers of power in 2011 and 2021 through elections.
- First African country to default in the pandemic era (2020); restructuring agreed with creditors including China.
- Copper mining dominated by foreign companies; a large share of the population lives below the poverty line.
- Cyber laws passed in 2025 criticised by rights groups as curbing free speech.
- 98 Antigua and BarbudaA calm democracy with free courts — but one government has held office for most of two decades, land in Barbuda was opened to developers, and it leans on interest-based debt and tourism.43%
Why 43%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources1/5
- Accountability2/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Regular elections; the Labour Party has held power for most years since 2004.
- Barbudans protested the 2015 land law and a Paradise Found resort; the Privy Council ruled in their favour on land rights in 2023.
- Citizenship-by-investment scheme criticised for money-laundering risks.
- Economy dependent on tourism and heavy public debt.
- 99 BahamasA stable democracy and tourist economy with open courts — but wealth sits in offshore finance, interest-based banking and foreign-owned resorts, and Haitian migrants are treated harshly.43%
Why 43%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources1/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Peaceful transfers of power through elections.
- Offshore banking and tax haven status, named in the Panama Papers (2016).
- Large resort and land holdings owned by foreign firms; heavy public debt.
- Haitian migrants face deportation and demolition of shantytowns, including after Hurricane Dorian (2019).
- 100 FijiHas returned to elections and customary land ownership protects most of its soil, but coups since 1987, interest-based debt and past press curbs weigh on it.43%
Why 43%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability2/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants2/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- About 87 percent of land is held by indigenous Fijian landowning units and cannot be sold.
- Four coups between 1987 and 2006; the 2006 military government ruled until the 2014 election.
- Peaceful change of government at the December 2022 election.
- Sizeable public debt; reliance on tourism and remittances.
- Religious communities are generally free to worship, though communal tensions persist.
- 101 KenyaA working multi-party system with strong courts and civil society, but police killed protesters in 2024 and 2025, debt to creditors is heavy and corruption is routine.43%
Why 43%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life2/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability2/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia2/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (2/5; alignment requires 3).
- Courts struck down the 2024 Finance Bill measures and the 2022 election result stood after a Supreme Court ruling.
- Police killings of protesters in June 2024 and June–July 2025 were documented by Amnesty and the KNCHR.
- A large share of revenue goes to servicing debt, including Eurobonds and Chinese loans for the Standard Gauge Railway.
- Rated poorly on corruption indices; Kenya leads the UN-backed mission in Haiti, a mandate it holds at the request of that government.
- 102 MalawiIts courts annulled a rigged election in 2019 and power has changed hands at the ballot, but it is among the poorest countries, dependent on aid and loans, with corruption scandals in office.43%
Why 43%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability2/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence1/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Constitutional Court annulled the 2019 presidential election in 2020 and a fresh vote followed.
- Opposition won the 2020 rerun and again in 2025, with the sitting president conceding.
- Among the world's poorest countries; heavily dependent on donors and IMF programmes.
- Repeated corruption scandals in procurement and public funds, including cases against senior officials.
- 103 MaltaA small neutral democracy with free courts, but a record of state capture and a 'golden passport' scheme, interest-based banking, and harsh treatment of migrants at sea.43%
Why 43%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability2/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was murdered in 2017; a public inquiry (2021) found the state had created an atmosphere of impunity.
- The citizenship by investment scheme was ruled unlawful by the EU Court of Justice in April 2025.
- Neutral under its constitution.
- Rescue boats were blocked from landing migrants on several occasions 2018–2020.
- 104 MexicoHolds regular elections, owns its oil company and keeps its own course, but organised crime and the army hold large parts of its land, tens of thousands are disappeared, and it is tied to the dollar system and US trade terms.43%
Why 43%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life2/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources3/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- More than 100,000 people registered as disappeared; cartels control parts of the country and journalists are killed.
- Pemex and the electricity utility CFE are state-owned and protected by the constitution.
- Judicial reform of 2024 made judges elected by popular vote; critics warn of weaker independence.
- Large remittances and USMCA trade ties bind the economy to the United States.
- 105 AlbaniaFree to vote and at peace with its neighbours, but organised crime, state capture in public works and weak courts, plus interest-based debt, hold it back.45%
Why 45%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- The vetting of judges and prosecutors since 2016 removed many for unexplained wealth.
- Former president Sali Berisha and several officials faced corruption charges (2024-2025).
- Hosts Italian-run migrant processing centres under a 2023 agreement.
- NATO member since 2009; EU accession talks under way.
- 106 ItalyA functioning democracy with a strong family and welfare tradition, but heavy interest-bearing debt, organised crime's reach into public contracts, and a deal paying Libya to hold back migrants.45%
Why 45%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Public debt around 135 percent of GDP.
- The 2017 memorandum with Libya funds the Libyan coast guard to turn migrants back, despite documented abuse in detention (UN, 2023).
- Italy built an offshore centre in Albania for asylum claims in 2024; Italian courts blocked transfers.
- Mafia influence in public works and waste contracts remains documented by prosecutors.
- 107 JamaicaAn elected, free-press democracy with a record of keeping the peace — but it is bound by IMF-linked debt and high interest, and violent crime and police killings have gone largely unanswered.45%
Why 45%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life2/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Regular elections and a free press; the Privy Council in London remains its final court of appeal.
- One of the highest murder rates in the Americas; police killings regularly criticised by Amnesty International.
- Long-running IMF programmes and reduced debt-to-GDP ratio, but interest payments consume a large part of revenue.
- Retains the British monarch as head of state; moves toward a republic announced but not completed.
- 108 MoldovaA small state holding free elections despite pressure, but poverty, interest-based debt, dependence on foreign aid and energy and an unresolved Transnistria dispute limit it.45%
Why 45%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability2/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence1/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Elections in September 2025 held amid reported Russian-backed vote-buying.
- Transnistria lost Russian gas transit supplies in January 2025, causing an energy crisis.
- Among Europe's poorest countries; remittances large share of income.
- The 2014 'theft of the billion' bank fraud led to convictions.
- 109 MongoliaA real multiparty democracy that sends peacekeepers abroad and keeps peace, but its mines are tied to foreign firms, it depends on Russia and China for trade and energy, and corruption claims dog its politics.45%
Why 45%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life4/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources1/5
- Accountability2/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Holds competitive elections and has changed governments by vote since 1990.
- One of the largest troop contributors per head to UN peacekeeping missions.
- Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine is run by Rio Tinto with a one-third stake held by the state.
- Almost all exports go to China and fuel imports come from Russia.
- 110 PanamaRecovered the Canal into national hands in 1999 and runs it as a public asset, but it is a global banking and offshore-company hub built on interest and secrecy, with unequal wealth and US pressure on the canal.45%
Why 45%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life4/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources3/5
- Accountability1/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- The Panama Canal Authority, a public body, has run the canal since 1999.
- The Panama Papers (2016) exposed its role in offshore secrecy; it remained on tax-haven watchlists.
- Large protests in 2023 forced cancellation of a mining concession (Cobre Panama).
- Faced renewed US pressure over the canal in 2025.
- 111 RomaniaCourts are active against graft and elections are held, but the constitutional court annulled the 2024 presidential vote, finance is interest-based and its resources are largely foreign-run.45%
Why 45%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability2/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- The Constitutional Court annulled the first round of the November 2024 presidential election over alleged foreign interference and campaign abuses; a re-run followed in 2025.
- The anti-corruption directorate has convicted ministers and mayors.
- Much of its energy and banking sector is foreign-owned.
- EU and NATO member.
- 112 São Tomé and PríncipeHas kept multi-party elections, peaceful transfers of power and no foreign wars, but it is poor, indebted and aid-dependent, and its politics are marked by dismissals of governments.45%
Why 45%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life4/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability2/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence1/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Several peaceful transfers of power since 1991, and elections held in September 2022.
- President Carlos Vila Nova dismissed the prime minister in January 2025.
- Depends on aid and loans from Portugal, Angola and multilateral donors; the IMF runs a programme.
- A failed coup attempt occurred in November 2022, ending with several deaths in custody.
- 113 ThailandA monarchy-linked order with elections and a free economy, but the army has seized power repeatedly, lese-majeste laws jail critics, and its security forces have long held down the Muslim south.45%
Why 45%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life2/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability2/5
- Consultation2/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia2/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (2/5; alignment requires 3).
- Army coups in 2006 and 2014; the 2023 winning party Move Forward was dissolved by the court in 2024.
- Section 112 lese-majeste laws bring long sentences for criticism of the monarchy.
- Deep South insurgency since 2004 has killed thousands; emergency laws apply.
- Border clash with Cambodia in July 2025 ended by ceasefire.
- 114 BoliviaBrought the gas and lithium back under public control and gave Indigenous peoples a voice, but political crisis, a failed 2024 coup attempt and a dollar shortage have left it unstable and short of reserves.47%
Why 47%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources3/5
- Accountability2/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Nationalised hydrocarbons in 2006 and put lithium under state control.
- Plurinational constitution of 2009 recognises Indigenous peoples and nations.
- The 2019 contested election and resignation of Evo Morales led to a short-lived interim government and deaths in protests.
- June 2024 coup attempt by an army general failed within hours.
- 115 Marshall IslandsA free-association state with elections and a government dedicated to compensation claims, but it lives under a US security pact, uses the US dollar and was made a nuclear test site.47%
Why 47%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life4/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence1/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- The US carried out 67 nuclear tests there between 1946 and 1958; the compensation owed is still disputed.
- Uses the US dollar and is under the Compact of Free Association, which gives the US defence control.
- Renewed compact funding in 2023.
- Parliamentary system with a council of chiefs; free elections.
- Large ship registry brings foreign-run revenue.
- 116 MicronesiaA peaceful, elected federation, but it is bound by a compact that gives the US its defence and dollars, and its economy lives on aid.47%
Why 47%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life4/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence1/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Federated States of Micronesia is under the Compact of Free Association with the US, which handles its defence.
- Uses the US dollar; compact grants fund much of the budget.
- Four states, each with its own constitution and elected governor.
- Fisheries licences are another main income.
- Freedom of religion is respected.
- 117 MontenegroPeaceful, with changes of government by ballot and an EU path, but it uses the euro without a say, carries heavy Chinese-financed debt and has a record of party-state clientelism.47%
Why 47%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability2/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Changed government by election in 2020, ending 30 years of one-party rule.
- A Chinese-financed motorway left it with debt equal to a quarter of GDP.
- Uses the euro without being in the eurozone.
- Joined NATO in 2017.
- 118 North MacedoniaSettled disputes by treaty, even changing its name, and holds regular elections, but corruption, interest-based debt and ethnic and external pressures limit its independence.47%
Why 47%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability2/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Prespa Agreement (2018) with Greece ended the name dispute; Ohrid Agreement (2001) ended its internal conflict.
- Bulgaria's veto has blocked EU accession talks over language and history.
- Recurring corruption cases in the 2010s led to the 2015 wiretap scandal.
- NATO member since 2020.
- 119 SlovakiaHolds free elections and keeps a social safety net, but the government has curbed prosecutors and civil society, and interest-based debt and foreign-owned industry limit its independence.47%
Why 47%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth3/5
- Common resources3/5
- Accountability2/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom3/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- 2024 criminal code changes cut penalties for corruption offences and drew EU criticism.
- 2025 law on non-profit organisations and a constitutional amendment on two sexes drew rights-group criticism.
- Journalist Ján Kuciak murdered in 2018; the alleged mastermind was twice acquitted and the case sent for retrial.
- Euro member; public and private finance rely on interest-bearing debt.
- 120 AndorraA small parliamentary co-principality that is peaceful and rule-bound, but a tax-haven past, interest-based banking, an unusual foreign co-prince system and a narrow economy tied to tourism.48%
Why 48%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life4/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Co-princes: the French president and the Bishop of Urgell, with only ceremonial powers since 1993.
- Banking secrecy ended in 2015–2016 after pressure from the OECD and EU.
- Abortion remains banned; a 2023 move to decriminalise stalled.
- No standing army; defence is left to France and Spain.
- 121 BelgiumIndependent courts and a free press, but interest-based finance, a colonial past still unanswered for, a fraught housing and migration record, and a federal system where consent is hard to read.48%
Why 48%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom3/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Parliament apologised for the abduction of mixed-race children in the Congo in 2019; a Lumumba compensation ruling followed.
- Belgium holds central securities clearing for Russian frozen assets (Euroclear), which the EU used for loans to Ukraine from 2024.
- Recognised Palestine in September 2025 on conditions; closed an arms shipment route to Israel in 2025.
- Courts have repeatedly ordered Belgium to house asylum seekers it left without shelter (2022–2024).
- 122 BrazilA large democracy that held its institutions after the January 2023 riot and kept its own foreign policy, but with a very unequal land and income order, interest at the highest rates, and police killings of the poor.48%
Why 48%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life2/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants4/5
- Independence4/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Courts convicted a former president over the attempt to overturn the 2022 election.
- Policy interest rate among the highest in the world, a heavy burden on borrowers.
- Bolsa Familia cash transfers reach tens of millions of poor families.
- Police kill thousands each year, mostly young Black men.
- 123 DominicaA peaceful democracy that keeps no army and has been rebuilt after storms — but it depends on citizenship sales, aid and interest-based loans, and its ruling party has held power for over two decades.48%
Why 48%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Dominica Labour Party in office since 2000; elections regularly held.
- Citizenship-by-investment funds a large share of the budget; criticised over vetting.
- Hurricane Maria (2017) caused damage greater than its annual economy; rebuilt with foreign aid and debt.
- Has no standing army; disputes handled through courts and diplomacy.
- 124 TongaLand cannot be sold and the state is at peace, but a monarchy and noble families keep much of the power and the kingdom is deep in Chinese debt.48%
Why 48%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life4/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources3/5
- Accountability2/5
- Consultation2/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Land cannot be sold to foreigners; all land is held by the Crown and nobles and allotted to male citizens.
- Elected people's representatives gained a majority in parliament only in 2010; the king keeps powers over ministers.
- Heavy debt to China's Exim Bank.
- Reliant on remittances from abroad.
- Observes Sunday as a sabbath by law; faiths are generally free to worship.
- 125 Trinidad and TobagoA working democracy with oil and gas in a state company — but it carries interest-based debt, struggles with crime and has pushed back Venezuelan refugees.48%
Why 48%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources3/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Regular elections and a free press; 2025 election returned a new government.
- Energy sector built around state-owned Petrotrin and NGC, though foreign firms hold large shares.
- A high murder rate and states of emergency declared in 2024 and 2025.
- Deported Venezuelan migrants, including children, in 2020 and 2022; later drew closer to US military activity near Venezuela.
- 126 ArmeniaChanged government at the ballot in 2018 and has moved towards peace with Azerbaijan, but it lost land, depends on Russia for arms and gas, and has jailed clergy and opponents.50%
Why 50%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants4/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- The 2018 'Velvet Revolution' removed the ruling party peacefully.
- Initialled a peace deal with Azerbaijan in Washington (August 2025).
- Arrested archbishops and opposition figures in 2025, drawing criticism.
- Relies on Russia for gas and arms; seeks new partners after the 2023 Karabakh loss.
- 127 AustriaNeutral, with strong courts and a welfare system, but interest-based banking, a record of corruption cases touching its chancellors, and a law curbing Muslim organisations.50%
Why 50%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life4/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence4/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom3/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Chancellor Sebastian Kurz resigned in 2021 amid a corruption probe and was convicted of false testimony in 2024; the verdict was overturned on appeal in 2025.
- The 2015 Islam Law bars foreign funding of mosques; the 2020 'Operation Luxor' raids on Muslim homes were later ruled unlawful.
- Permanently neutral under its 1955 constitution.
- Public ownership of utilities and railways remains strong.
- 128 BelizeA small, stable parliamentary democracy that takes its Guatemalan border dispute to the ICJ rather than force, but it is heavily indebted, interest-based and dependent on tourism and foreign creditors.50%
Why 50%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life4/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants4/5
- Independence1/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Referred the Guatemala territorial claim to the International Court of Justice by agreement of both states.
- Peaceful transfers of power between the two main parties since independence in 1981.
- Restructured foreign debt in 2021 and 2024 in deals tied to ocean conservation financing.
- Same-sex relations decriminalised by its Supreme Court in 2016.
- 129 ChileStable elections and a record of trying its dictators, but a free-market order from the Pinochet era keeps water, pensions and lithium largely in private hands, with interest-based finance.50%
Why 50%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life4/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources1/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants4/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Water rights are privatised under the 1981 Water Code.
- Private pension funds (AFPs) manage retirement savings.
- Rejected two draft constitutions in 2022 and 2023.
- Lithium reserves largely held by private producers; a national lithium strategy of 2023 seeks state involvement.
- 130 GermanyStrong courts, a social safety net and a worker-voice tradition, but interest-based banking, arms exports that feed others' wars, a debt brake that limits public spending and surveillance partnerships with the US weigh on its record.50%
Why 50%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability4/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom3/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- The constitutional court enforces the basic law; co-determination puts workers on company boards.
- Among the largest arms exporters to Israel in 2023–2025 while the ICJ and UN raised genocide concerns; the government approved a partial halt in August 2025.
- The BND shared bulk data with the NSA (Bundestag inquiry, 2014–2017); US troops remain at Ramstein.
- Protests for Palestine were restricted in Berlin and several states 2023–2025.
- 131 KiribatiPublic land stays with its people and it has no wars, but its revenue relies on fishing licences and aid, it borrows abroad and rising seas threaten its homeland.50%
Why 50%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life4/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources3/5
- Accountability2/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Income from fishing licences sold to foreign fleets funds much of the budget.
- Government sovereign wealth fund, the Revenue Equalisation Reserve Fund, holds the savings.
- Switched recognition from Taiwan to China in 2019.
- Elected parliament and president, though a 2024 election saw a change of leader.
- Rising seas threaten the land; the state bought land in Fiji for relocation.
- 132 LuxembourgRich, stable and rule-bound, but a banking and tax-shelter centre built on interest-bearing finance and secret deals for multinationals, with little consultation on how that wealth is shared.50%
Why 50%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life4/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- LuxLeaks (2014): tax rulings gave multinationals very low rates; whistleblowers were prosecuted.
- A major fund-domiciliation centre, with assets in funds above EUR 5 trillion.
- Citizens voted down voting rights for foreign residents in a 2015 referendum.
- Small, neutral in conflict, and a member of NATO and the EU.
- 133 NetherlandsOpen courts, free press and a strong pension system, but interest-based finance, a tax-avoidance conduit for multinationals, and a child-benefit scandal that wrongly accused thousands, mostly immigrants, of fraud.50%
Why 50%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability4/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom3/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- The childcare benefits scandal: tax authorities wrongly labelled about 26,000 parents as fraudsters; the Rutte government resigned in January 2021.
- The Netherlands is a major conduit for multinational profits through shell companies and tax treaties.
- Hosts the ICC and ICJ at The Hague; the Hague court barred F-35 part exports to Israel in February 2024, upheld on appeal.
- Pension funds hold some of the world's largest investment pools.
- 134 Saint Kitts and NevisA stable federal democracy at peace — but it sells passports, is bound by interest-based debt and tourism, and has shown little accountability over its citizenship programme.50%
Why 50%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Regular elections and peaceful transfers of power.
- Oldest citizenship-by-investment programme in the world (1984); criticised by the IMF and EU over vetting.
- Cut public debt sharply after a 2012 restructuring, but remains reliant on tourism and passport revenue.
- Nevis holds a constitutional right to secede; relations managed through law.
- 135 Saint LuciaA parliamentary democracy at peace with its neighbours — but it is dependent on tourism, interest-based debt and citizenship sales, with high youth unemployment.50%
Why 50%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Regular elections; the governing party was re-elected in December 2025.
- Citizenship-by-investment programme selling passports.
- High public debt and unemployment, especially among the young.
- Free press and independent courts.
- 136 Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesA peaceful democracy where the vote has changed the government — but it relies on interest-based loans, aid and tourism, and a volcanic eruption and storms have strained its finances.50%
Why 50%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- The long-serving government was voted out in November 2025, after more than two decades in power.
- Citizenship-by-investment scheme and heavy public debt.
- La Soufrière eruption (2021) displaced thousands and required foreign aid.
- Courts and press are free; history of peaceful transfers.
- 137 SamoaAlmost all land is held by families under custom and it has a peaceful record, but a long-ruling party, a 2021 constitutional crisis and church-influenced limits hold back consultation.50%
Why 50%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life4/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources3/5
- Accountability2/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- About 80 percent of land is customary, held by families under their chiefs (matai).
- The 2021 election crisis ended after the Court of Appeal ruled against the long-ruling party; leader Fiame Naomi Mata'afa took office.
- Only matai (chiefs) may stand for most seats, a limit on who may be consulted.
- Dependent on remittances and tourism; external debt rising.
- Christianity is the state religion with freedom of worship for others.
- 138 San MarinoOne of the world's oldest republics, rule-bound and peaceful, but a small interest-based economy dependent on Italy, and in 2022 it voted to legalise abortion after pressure from abroad.50%
Why 50%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life4/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Two Captains Regent are chosen every six months by the Grand and General Council.
- Italy supplies most of its imports, currency and security cover.
- Voters approved the legalisation of abortion in a 2021 referendum.
- Banking crisis in the 2010s led to state-backed rescues of local banks.
- 139 SingaporeClean, orderly and wealthy, with strict courts and no foreign entanglements, but interest-based finance, one party in power since 1959, press curbs and capital punishment weigh on it.50%
Why 50%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability4/5
- Consultation2/5
- Kept covenants4/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom3/5
- Sharia2/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (2/5; alignment requires 3).
- People's Action Party has governed since 1959; opposition holds few seats.
- Low corruption: ranks near the top of Transparency International's index.
- State funds Temasek and GIC hold large public wealth; interest-based finance is central.
- Mandatory death penalty for some drug offences; defamation and fake-news laws curb the press.
- 140 South KoreaA working democracy that removed a president who declared martial law and holds its officials to the courts, but its finance is interest-based, US forces are stationed on its soil, and household debt and inequality are severe.50%
Why 50%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- President Yoon declared martial law on 3 December 2024; the National Assembly overturned it and he was removed in April 2025.
- Household debt among the highest in the world; interest-based banking throughout.
- Independent courts and free elections; chaebol conglomerates hold large shares of the economy.
- About 28,500 US troops stationed under a mutual defence treaty.
- 141 SpainElected government, independent courts and a public health system, but interest-based debt, a corruption record across both main parties, and a brutal border policy at Ceuta and Melilla.50%
Why 50%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Ceuta and Melilla: 23 migrants died at the Melilla fence in June 2022; Spain's ombudsman criticised the pushbacks.
- The 2024 amnesty for Catalan separatists drew court challenges; Spain also recognised Palestine in May 2024.
- Spain announced an arms embargo on Israel in September 2025.
- The Gurtel case convicted PP figures in 2018 and brought down the Rajoy government; Sanchez's circle faced probes in 2025.
- 142 VanuatuLand is constitutionally returned to custom owners and it sued the world for climate justice, but it has sold passports, borrowed abroad and suffered repeated political instability.50%
Why 50%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life4/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability2/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- The constitution returns all land to its indigenous custom owners and bans permanent sale.
- Led the UN campaign that won the ICJ advisory opinion on climate obligations in 2025.
- Sells citizenship through a Capital Investment Immigration programme, which drew EU visa suspension in 2024.
- Frequent no-confidence votes and dissolutions of parliament.
- Relies on Australian and Chinese aid and loans.
- 143 AustraliaElected rulers, independent courts and a strong welfare floor, but interest-based finance, a record of offshore detention and a security pact that binds it to US power.52%
Why 52%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth3/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability4/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Compulsory-vote democracy with an independent judiciary and a federal anti-corruption commission (since 2023).
- Offshore detention of asylum seekers on Nauru and Manus Island since 2012; the Manus detention was ruled unlawful by PNG's Supreme Court in 2016.
- The Robodebt scheme unlawfully raised welfare debts; a Royal Commission reported in 2023.
- Part of the AUKUS pact with the United States and United Kingdom (2021); US forces rotate through Australian bases.
- Interest-based banking and a large household debt; a superannuation system funds retirement.
- 144 CanadaElected rulers, independent courts and a free press, with a fair welfare state and open doors to refugees — but it runs on interest-based finance, has settled Indigenous land claims slowly, and arms and defers to its allies in war.52%
Why 52%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth3/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability4/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity4/5
- Religious freedom3/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Free elections, an independent judiciary and a free press; consistently high in global corruption rankings.
- The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (2015) documented residential-school abuses; land claims and clean water for First Nations communities remain unresolved.
- Public healthcare, pensions and a wide refugee resettlement programme, though housing costs have outpaced wages.
- Interest-based banking and heavy household debt; oil, minerals and timber largely licensed to private firms; tight economic and defence ties to the United States.
- 145 DenmarkA trusted, transparent state with a strong welfare system, but interest-based finance, a hard line on migrants and its Muslims, and a colonial hold over Greenland.52%
Why 52%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth3/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability4/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence4/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom3/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- The 'ghetto law' of 2018 set special rules for residential areas with a high share of non-Western residents; the EU Court of Justice raised concerns in 2024–2025.
- Quran burnings were allowed in 2023; a law to ban them passed in December 2023.
- Denmark apologised to Greenlandic women in 2025 over the contraceptive coil campaign of the 1960s–70s.
- Sent troops to the Iraq and Afghanistan coalitions before 2016.
- 146 GambiaHas moved from Yahya Jammeh's dictatorship to elected rule and took Myanmar to the ICJ for genocide, but it is small, aid-dependent, in debt, and its truth commission's findings are slow to be acted on.52%
Why 52%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life4/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence1/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia2/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (2/5; alignment requires 3).
- Took Myanmar to the International Court of Justice in 2019 over the genocide of the Rohingya.
- Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission reported on Jammeh-era abuses in 2021; prosecutions have been slow.
- Economy depends on tourism, remittances and donor aid with high public debt.
- A draft constitution was rejected by parliament in 2020, leaving the old Jammeh-era text in force.
- 147 GhanaA steady multiparty democracy that has handed over power peacefully and set up a state gold buyer, but it is bound to an IMF programme, carries heavy interest-bearing debt, and lets illegal mining foul its rivers.52%
Why 52%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Power has changed between the two main parties repeatedly, most recently after the December 2024 election won by John Mahama.
- Defaulted on much of its external debt in 2022 and entered an IMF programme in 2023.
- Created the state-run GoldBod to buy and export small-scale gold (2025).
- Illegal small-scale mining (galamsey) has polluted major rivers and water supplies.
- 148 GrenadaA small parliamentary democracy at peace — but it rebuilt from a 1983 foreign invasion and a 2004 debt crisis and now lives on interest-based borrowing and tourism.52%
Why 52%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability4/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Regular elections and peaceful transfers of power.
- Restructured its debt in 2005 and 2015 under IMF and creditor pressure.
- Citizenship-by-investment scheme sells passports to foreigners.
- Free press and active courts; small economy dependent on tourism and aid.
- 149 IrelandNeutral in war, with open courts and a citizens' assembly tradition, but a low-tax haven for multinationals, interest-based finance and a housing crisis leave its wealth circulating among the few.52%
Why 52%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life4/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth1/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability4/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Militarily neutral and outside NATO; the triple-lock rule requires UN approval for large troop deployments.
- Citizens' Assemblies fed the 2015 and 2018 referendums; low corporate tax draws US tech and pharma giants.
- The EU Court of Justice (2024) ordered Apple to repay about EUR 13 billion in Irish back taxes.
- Ireland recognised Palestine in May 2024 and joined South Africa's ICJ case against Israel.
- 150 PalauA small democracy with a marine sanctuary and strong environmental protection, but it uses the US dollar, hosts US defence ties and carries tourism-dependent debt.52%
Why 52%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life4/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources3/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence1/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- In 2020 it protected 80 percent of its waters as a marine sanctuary.
- Under the Compact of Free Association with the US, which handles defence; uses the US dollar.
- Directly elected president and congress.
- Retains ties with Taiwan, under Chinese pressure.
- Tourism-led economy hit hard by the pandemic.
- 151 SeychellesPassed power to the opposition peacefully in 2025 and keeps a tidy budget, but its economy rests on tourism and offshore finance, and it is deep in debt-for-nature deals.52%
Why 52%
- Justice2/5
- Protection of life4/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- President Wavel Ramkalawan lost to Patrick Herminie in the October 2025 runoff and handed over power.
- Debt-for-nature swaps (2015 and later) put marine areas under protection in exchange for restructured debt.
- Offshore financial services have drawn scrutiny over money-laundering risks.
- Has no army fighting abroad; its coast guard hunts pirates and traffickers.
- 152 South AfricaFree elections, an independent judiciary and a constitution that protects every faith, but interest-based finance, one of the widest wealth gaps in the world and years of state capture hold it back.52%
Why 52%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Zondo Commission (2018-2022) documented state capture; courts and a free press have held office-holders to account.
- Among the most unequal countries in the world by Gini coefficient; millions rely on state social grants.
- Interest-based banking and a large public debt service bill; Islamic finance exists only as a small niche.
- Waves of xenophobic violence against African migrants (2008, 2015, 2019) and a land reform process that remains slow.
- 153 Timor-LesteA young, free nation that won independence after a long occupation, reached a fair maritime treaty and keeps oil savings in a public fund, but poverty is deep and oil is running out.52%
Why 52%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Won independence in 1999 after 24 years of Indonesian occupation.
- Maritime boundary treaty with Australia in 2018, settled by UN conciliation.
- Petroleum Fund holds oil revenues; Greater Sunrise development still disputed.
- About 40 percent of people live in poverty; free elections with orderly transfers of power.
- 154 TuvaluA tiny elected state with a trust fund of its own and no history of war, but it leans on Australia for its security and borrows from abroad.52%
Why 52%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life4/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources3/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Tuvalu Trust Fund set up in 1987 gives it an income of its own.
- The 2023 Falepili Union treaty with Australia gives its people a path to migrate and gives Australia a say over its security arrangements.
- Retains diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
- Consensus-style parliament without political parties.
- Rising seas threaten the whole country.
- 155 BarbadosA stable democracy that became a republic in 2021 and treats its people fairly well — but it lives on interest-based debt and tourism and has had to restructure its debt under IMF terms.53%
Why 53%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability4/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Became a republic on 30 November 2021, removing the British monarch as head of state.
- Free elections and a strong record of clean government.
- Restructured its debt in 2018 under an IMF programme.
- Pushing for reparations from European states for slavery; a national climate-finance plan (Bridgetown Initiative).
- 156 CroatiaA working democracy with fair elections and a strong civil society, but interest-based finance, a high-cost tourism economy and reported violent pushbacks of migrants at its border.53%
Why 53%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth3/5
- Common resources3/5
- Accountability2/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Reports by the Council of Europe and the Danish Refugee Council document violent pushbacks to Bosnia.
- Euro and Schengen member since January 2023.
- Peaceful alternation of governments by election.
- Corruption remains a concern in public contracts and land.
- 157 JapanA peaceful, law-abiding democracy with courts, a free press and a record of keeping treaties, but it runs on interest-based debt among the world's largest, shelters under American forces and bases, and treats migrants and minorities coolly.53%
Why 53%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth3/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Article 9 of the constitution renounces war; no Japanese force has killed in combat since 1945.
- Public debt above 230 percent of GDP, financed by government bonds.
- Free elections and independent courts; long one-party dominance by the LDP and recurring funding scandals.
- Hosts tens of thousands of US troops under a security treaty; strict refugee admission.
- 158 LatviaFair elections and rule-of-law progress, but interest-based finance and a large population of stateless residents with limited rights set it back.53%
Why 53%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth3/5
- Common resources3/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Tens of thousands of 'non-citizens' (mostly Russian-speakers) have no vote.
- Ranked free by Freedom House.
- Banking sector reformed after 2018 money-laundering scandals.
- NATO and EU member.
- 159 LiechtensteinA small stable princely state with direct votes, but the prince holds a veto over laws, and its banking and trust industry thrives on interest and discreet wealth.53%
Why 53%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life4/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources3/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation3/5
- Kept covenants4/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- The 2003 referendum gave the prince the power to veto laws and dismiss the government.
- A trust and foundation centre; the 'LGT leaks' of 2008 exposed tax evasion by foreigners via Liechtenstein banks.
- Has had no army since 1868.
- Switzerland handles its customs, currency and foreign representation.
- 160 PolandElected rulers, a free press and a strong welfare floor, but interest-based finance, years of clashes over court independence, and force used against migrants at the Belarus border.53%
Why 53%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth3/5
- Common resources3/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Governments changed hands at the ballot in 2015 and 2023; the EU and its own courts disputed judicial changes made in 2015-2023.
- Border law allowing pushbacks of asylum seekers at the Belarus frontier (2021 onwards); deaths in the forests documented by rights groups.
- Near-total abortion ban since the 2020 constitutional tribunal ruling.
- A NATO and EU member whose defence and finance run through those blocs.
- 161 PortugalA stable democracy with a decriminalised drug policy and a record of peace, but interest-based debt that forced a bailout, and a labour market that pushes the young to emigrate.53%
Why 53%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life4/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- The 2011–2014 troika bailout of EUR 78 billion imposed austerity on public services.
- Drug possession decriminalised in 2001, cutting overdose deaths and HIV infections.
- Prime Minister António Costa resigned in 2023 amid a corruption probe in lithium and hydrogen deals.
- NATO member with no recent wars.
- 162 SenegalVoters forced a peaceful change of president in 2024 and the new government is renegotiating oil and gas and mining terms, but it is deep in hidden debt, under an IMF watch, and criminalises same-sex relations.53%
Why 53%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources3/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia1/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (1/5; alignment requires 3).
- Presidential election of March 2024 held after a court overturned the postponement; Bassirou Diomaye Faye won in the first round.
- Government has sought to renegotiate extractive contracts for the Sangomar oil field and mining.
- Audit revealed hidden debt, pushing public debt well above earlier figures and straining ties with the IMF.
- Protest-related deaths in 2021-2024 were documented by human rights groups.
- 163 CzechiaA functioning democracy with free elections and a modest welfare state, but an interest-based financial system, a large foreign-owned industrial base and a poor record on Roma inclusion.55%
Why 55%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth3/5
- Common resources3/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Peaceful changes of government by free elections since 1989.
- Roma children over-represented in segregated or lower-tier schooling (European Court of Human Rights, 2007, and later EU findings).
- Banking and public debt are interest-based; much heavy industry is foreign-owned.
- Cooperates in NATO and EU frameworks, with no war of its own choosing.
- 164 LithuaniaFair elections, an independent judiciary and a public that watches its rulers, but interest-based finance, euro membership and a hard line at the Belarus border dilute its record.55%
Why 55%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth3/5
- Common resources3/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Peaceful alternation of governments in free elections.
- Law allowing pushbacks of migrants from Belarus, criticised by the ECHR and UN agencies (2021-2023).
- Cut Russian energy and built a gas terminal to end dependence.
- NATO and EU member.
- 165 SwedenA strong welfare state, open courts and a long record of peace, but interest-based finance, a growing arms industry, and a tightening migration and surveillance regime.55%
Why 55%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth3/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability4/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence4/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Joined NATO in March 2024, ending 200 years of non-alignment.
- The Quran burnings of 2023 were allowed by police under free-speech rules, drawing protests across Muslim states.
- Raised its defence spending toward 2.5 percent of GDP.
- The government has tightened asylum and citizenship rules since 2022.
- 166 FinlandA clean, democratic state with strong schools and a safety net, but interest-based finance, a recent shift into NATO, and a border closed to asylum seekers.57%
Why 57%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life4/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth3/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability4/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence4/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Joined NATO in April 2023 after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
- Closed its eastern border with Russia in 2023 and passed a law letting it turn back asylum seekers in 2024.
- Consistently among the least corrupt states on Transparency International's index.
- The Sami Parliament has long disputed land and language rights with the state.
- 167 MauritiusPeaceful rotation of governments, independent courts and a recovered claim to the Chagos Islands won through law, but interest-based finance, offshore tax structures and a wealth gap remain.57%
Why 57%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life4/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth3/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants4/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Navin Ramgoolam's alliance won every contested seat in the November 2024 election and took office peacefully.
- Won the 2019 ICJ advisory opinion and signed the Chagos treaty with the United Kingdom in May 2025, though the Diego Garcia base is leased back for 99 years.
- Free education and health care and a universal pension are paid from the budget.
- Long used as an offshore finance centre for investment into India and Africa, and removed from the money-laundering grey list in 2021.
- 168 NamibiaA stable democracy with a free press and peaceful elections, but land and wealth remain concentrated, the German genocide settlement is unfinished, and its new oil is being opened to foreign firms.57%
Why 57%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life4/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources3/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Regular elections since independence in 1990; the 2024 vote elected the country's first woman president.
- Land ownership still concentrated in a minority; one of the world's highest income inequality ratios.
- 2021 joint declaration with Germany over the 1904-1908 Herero and Nama genocide, still contested and unratified.
- Offshore oil discoveries (2022) with local-content rules but foreign-led development.
- 169 Cabo VerdeA stable island democracy with regular peaceful turnovers and good governance rankings, but it is tied to the euro peg, relies on tourism and aid, and is heavily indebted.58%
Why 58%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life4/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability4/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants4/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity4/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Consistently rated among Africa's freest and best-governed states with regular alternation of power.
- Its currency, the escudo, is pegged to the euro through an agreement with Portugal.
- Public debt is high relative to the economy and the country depends on tourism.
- Mixed record on migrant treatment is limited by its small size, but few abuses are reported.
- 170 Costa RicaAbolished its army in 1948, keeps free elections, public health and education, and a record of peacemaking, but its finance is interest-based and it is open to foreign capital and US trade terms.58%
Why 58%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life5/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth3/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants4/5
- Independence2/5
- Dignity4/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Constitution bans a standing army (1949); long record of mediating regional conflict.
- Universal public health care through the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social.
- Strong electoral institutions and peaceful transfers of power for over seven decades.
- Free-trade zones and foreign investment drive growth; public debt is high.
- 171 SloveniaWater is in its constitution, elections are fair and the courts independent, but the state still runs on interest-based debt and thousands of erased residents were never fully compensated.58%
Why 58%
- Justice4/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth3/5
- Common resources4/5
- Accountability3/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Right to drinking water written into the constitution in 2016; 2022 referendum kept water-utility control public.
- The 'Erased' residents stripped of status in 1992: ECHR ruled against it in 2012 and a compensation scheme followed.
- Free elections and independent courts; Freedom House rates it free.
- Euro member; debt is interest-based.
- 172 SwitzerlandNeutral in war and democratic through referendums, but a banking haven built on interest and secrecy that long hid others' stolen wealth, with limits on religious expression such as the minaret ban.58%
Why 58%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life4/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth2/5
- Common resources3/5
- Accountability4/5
- Consultation5/5
- Kept covenants4/5
- Independence5/5
- Dignity2/5
- Religious freedom3/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Direct democracy: voters decide on laws through referendums several times a year.
- Minaret construction banned by a 2009 popular vote; a face-covering ban passed in 2021.
- Bank secrecy was loosened under US pressure from 2009; the Credit Suisse rescue by UBS in 2023 used state guarantees.
- Neutrality tested by adopting EU sanctions on Russia from 2022.
- 173 BotswanaA long-standing multiparty democracy that shares diamond income through public services and handed power peacefully to the opposition in 2024, but it still relies on interest-based finance and one export.60%
Why 60%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life4/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth3/5
- Common resources3/5
- Accountability4/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Regular multiparty elections since 1966; the ruling party lost power for the first time in 2024 and conceded.
- Debswana diamond company is jointly owned 50-50 by the state and De Beers, funding health, schooling and social assistance.
- Ranks among Africa's least corrupt states in Transparency International's index.
- Economy heavily dependent on diamonds; diamond price falls since 2023 have strained public finances.
- 174 EstoniaClean, open government, digital rights and free elections, but interest-based finance, a free-market economy with thin protection and restrictions on Russian-citizen residents.60%
Why 60%
- Justice4/5
- Protection of life3/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth3/5
- Common resources3/5
- Accountability4/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants3/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Among the least corrupt states in the world (Transparency International).
- Pioneered digital government; strong data-privacy protections.
- Moves to bar Russian citizens from voting in local elections (2024-2025).
- NATO and EU member whose finance runs through the euro.
- 175 New ZealandA transparent, consultative democracy with low corruption and a Treaty settlement process with the Maori, but it runs on interest-based finance and sells land and assets to foreign buyers.60%
Why 60%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life4/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth3/5
- Common resources2/5
- Accountability5/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants4/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity3/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Consistently ranked among the least corrupt states by Transparency International.
- Treaty of Waitangi settlements return land and compensation to iwi; a 2024 bill to reinterpret the Treaty drew mass protest.
- Mixed-member proportional voting system gives smaller parties a voice.
- Interest-based banking and heavy household mortgage debt; a sizeable share of farmland and housing has been foreign owned.
- Foreign Five Eyes intelligence partner.
- 176 UruguayOne of the region's most open democracies, with strong public services and peaceful transfers of power, but its finance is interest-based and it depends on agricultural exports and foreign debt markets.62%
Why 62%
- Justice3/5
- Protection of life4/5
- No riba0/5
- Circulation of wealth3/5
- Common resources3/5
- Accountability4/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants4/5
- Independence3/5
- Dignity4/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Consistently rated the region's strongest democracy in global indices.
- State-owned energy, water, telecoms and banking enterprises remain in public hands.
- Trials of officers for crimes of the 1973–1985 dictatorship have continued.
- Legalised cannabis (2013) and same-sex marriage (2013).
- 177 IcelandA peaceful, transparent democracy with strong equality and public control of geothermal power, but a banking sector that collapsed on interest and speculation in 2008.68%
Why 68%
- Justice4/5
- Protection of life4/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth3/5
- Common resources4/5
- Accountability4/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants4/5
- Independence4/5
- Dignity4/5
- Religious freedom5/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- Banks collapsed in 2008; bankers were prosecuted and the country refused to guarantee foreign depositors, backed by two referendums.
- Geothermal and hydro energy is largely publicly owned; the Landsvirkjun power company is state-owned.
- Ranked first in the Global Gender Gap Index for over a decade.
- No army; NATO member.
- 178 NorwayA transparent democracy that holds its oil wealth as a public fund and shares it widely, but the fund invests in interest-bearing bonds and arms firms' shares, and Norway sells arms abroad.68%
Why 68%
- Justice4/5
- Protection of life4/5
- No riba1/5
- Circulation of wealth4/5
- Common resources4/5
- Accountability4/5
- Consultation4/5
- Kept covenants4/5
- Independence4/5
- Dignity4/5
- Religious freedom4/5
- Sharia0/5
Not aligned: the sharia is not a main source of its law (0/5; alignment requires 3).
- The Government Pension Fund Global holds over USD 1.7 trillion, invested in bonds and shares worldwide.
- Petroleum resources are state-controlled; Equinor is majority state-owned.
- The Supreme Court ruled in 2021 that the Fosen wind farms violated Sami reindeer herders' rights.
- Contributes to NATO operations and exports arms.
The wars
- Russia and UkraineAggressor: RussiaDeaths: 525,000–600,000 soldiers and civilians, mostly Russian troops (CSIS, July 2026); the UN has verified about 15,000 civiliansIn its fifth year, Russia's invasion of Ukraine is a stalemate on the ground while missile and drone strikes on cities grow deadlier; US-brokered talks have stalled.
- The Iran war: Iran, Israel, Palestine, the United States and YemenAggressor: Israel and the United States against Iran; Israel in Palestine as the occupying power; in Yemen, the Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition as occupiersDeaths: More than 74,000 Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023 (Gaza Health Ministry; a Max Planck study puts it at 100,000–126,000) and about 2,000 Israelis; about 4,500 in the war on Iran (3,468 in Iran in 2026 by the Iranian Martyrs Foundation, over 1,000 in June 2025, dozens in Israel), and about 150,000 in Yemen's fighting since 2014 — 377,000 counting hunger and disease (UNDP, to end 2021)One war on several fronts: Israel's war on Gaza since October 2023, under a ceasefire aid groups say exists in name only; the US and Israel against Iran since June 2025; and Yemen's war — renewed in July 2026 between the Iran-backed Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition — fought from Gaza to the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea.
- Myanmar and the RohingyaAggressor: The Myanmar militaryDeaths: 100,114 since the February 2021 coup (ACLED, July 2026)Five years after its coup, Myanmar's military has made its leader president through a partial election and keeps bombing markets and villages, while the Rohingya are attacked from both sides and The Gambia's genocide case awaits judgment.
- Sudan's civil warAggressor: The Rapid Support ForcesDeaths: At least 59,000 by April 2026 (ACLED) — researchers say up to 100,000 in 2025 alone, and far more from famineIn its fourth year, the war between Sudan's army and the RSF has spread from Darfur — where El Fasher fell with 'hallmarks of genocide' — to Kordofan and Blue Nile, with famine and drone strikes on the displaced.
- The Sahel: Mali, Burkina Faso and NigerAggressor: JNIM and Islamic State SahelDeaths: Over 50,000 since 2012 — about 10,000 a year since 2022 (ACLED, Africa Center for Strategic Studies)Al-Qaeda's JNIM has besieged Mali's capital with a fuel blockade since April 2026, while the juntas and Russia's Africa Corps massacre Fulani villagers in the name of fighting it.
- Kashmir, India and PakistanAggressor: India, as the occupying force in KashmirDeaths: About 47,000 since the 1989 insurgency (Indian officials; Kashmiri rights groups say over 70,000)A tense ceasefire has held since the May 2025 clashes that followed the Pahalgam massacre, but India still holds the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance and rejected the court ruling that it binds both states.
- Somalia and al-ShabaabAggressor: Al-ShabaabDeaths: Over 40,000 in battle since 2006 (UCDP), with about 3,800 in 2025A resurgent al-Shabaab has retaken much of the ground it lost in 2022–23 while Mogadishu quarrels with its regions over elections and the African Union mission runs short of money.
- Syria after AssadAggressor: IsraelDeaths: 10,672 from Assad's fall to September 2025, 8,180 of them civilians (SOHR)Syria's transitional government has brought the Kurdish-led SDF into the army, but Suweida remains outside its control, the coastal and Suweida massacres await justice, and Israel occupies the south.
- Eastern DR CongoAggressor: Rwanda and M23Deaths: More than 7,000 in January–February 2025 alone, as M23 took Goma and Bukavu (DRC Prime Minister to the UN)Rwanda-backed M23 still holds Goma and Bukavu and keeps fighting despite the Washington and Doha peace deals, while minerals from the land it holds flow to Rwanda.
- Israel and LebanonAggressor: Israel, as the occupying forceDeaths: More than 4,300 in Lebanon by late August 2026 (Lebanese authorities)Hezbollah's March 2026 rocket fire in support of Iran brought an Israeli air campaign and ground invasion that has killed more than 4,300 people and displaced over a million; a June framework has not stopped the fighting.
- Pakistan and AfghanistanAggressor: Pakistan, which struck firstDeaths: About 900: at least 372 Afghan civilians killed by May 2026 (UNAMA), and hundreds of fighters on both sides by each side's disputed claims (Kabul says over 760 civilians)Pakistan has bombed Afghanistan since February 2026 — Kabul included — in a war UNAMA says has killed hundreds of Afghan civilians; it flared again in late September after three months of relative calm.
Armed groups (Hamas, Hezbollah, M23, JNIM, al-Shabaab and others) are described on each war's page but not ranked as nations. Last gathered 2026-10-12.