Focusing on just plain old fashion murder and crime, Foreign Policy has listed the 'ten most deadliest cities in the world' in an articulate called "Murder Most Foul" by Alicia P.Q. Wittmeyer and Elias Croll. The magazine does not factor in those cities where wars or civil wars are raging on a daily basis such as in Afghanistan, the Congo or Syria.

In the United States, New Orleans has the highest murder rate being ranked number 21 in the world. The Emerald City ranks much higher than Kingston, Jamaica and Cape Town, South Africa.

All of the top ten cities are in Central and Latin America. Here are the top five and you can click to the Foreign Policy site to see the rest.

1. San Pedro Sula, Honduras

The city is a major staging area for drugs. Honduras has the highest homicide rate in the world and San Pedro Sula has the highest in Honduras. There are 159 murders per 100,000 people.

2. Ciudad Juarez, Mexico:

There has been a drug war between the Juarez ad Sinaloa Cartels. Over 6,000 people have been killed between 2008 and 2010. Juarez has a homicide rate of 148 per 100,000. So far this year there has been just 580 homicides mostly because the Sinaloa Cartel won for now the drug war.

3. Maceio, Brazil:

The homicide rate is 135 murders per 100,000 in this Northern Brazilian city. The effort to turn this seaside city into a tourist destination is being hampered by the drug battles that daily take place.

4. Acapulco, Mexico:

For decades, Acapulco has been a glamorous destination for the international jets set. Now the city is being drowned by blood. The murder rate is 128,000 per 100,000. There has been gun battles in the center of the city. The drug wars in this city have been particularly brutal with severed heads left for tourists to witness.

5. Distrito Central, Honduras:

This is the Tegucigalpa metropolitan area. Again, drugs are at the center of the murders that are taking place. The Capital city has 100 killings per 100,000 people. The area is a strong hold of the MS-13 gang. The nation's top anti-drug official was assassinated on the streets in this city. Increasingly, Honduras is on the verge of becoming a failed nation state.