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New Peace Index Ranks US Among Worst Nations

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by Deborah Charles

 

WASHINGTON- The United States is among the least peaceful nations in the world, ranking 96th between Yemen and Iran, according to a new index released on Wednesday that evaluates 121 nations based on their peacefulness.According to the Global Peace Index, created by The Economist Intelligence Unit, Norway is the most peaceful nation in the world and Iraq is the least, just after Russia, Israel and Sudan.

 

“The objective of the Global Peace Index was to go beyond a crude measure of wars by systemically exploring the texture of peace,” said Global Peace Index President Clyde McConaghy.

 

He said the inaugural effort proves “peace can and has and will continue to be measured.”

 

The index was compiled based on 24 indicators measuring peace inside and outside of a country. They included the number of wars a country was involved in the past five years, how many soldiers were killed overseas and how much money was made in arms sales.

 

Domestic indicators included the level of violent crimes, relations with neighboring countries and level of distrust in other citizens.

 

The results were then reviewed by a panel of international experts.

 

“We were trying to find out what positive qualities lead to peace,” said Leo Abruzzese, the North American editorial director of the intelligence unit that is part of The Economist Group that publishes the well known magazine.

 

He said they found in general the most peaceful countries were the smallest, the most politically stable and democratic.

 

“Democracy didn’t actually correlate with peace, but a well-functioning democracy did. Efficient, accountable government seems to be the leading determinant of peace. Beyond that, income helps.”

 

Fifteen of the top 20 most peaceful nations are in Western Europe, and countries with higher income appeared to lead to higher levels of peace, he said.

 

The United States ranked 96th out of 121 nations, just worse than Yemen and just better than Iran, Honduras and South Africa.

 

Abruzzese said the United States’ score was pulled down by the number of wars it is involved in, large numbers of soldiers killed on the battlefield and high defense spending.

 

He said the fact the United States has the world’s largest prison population per share of overall population also pulled down the score.

 

“It also has relatively high levels of violent crime,” he added.

 

McConaghy said the index would be revised each year and increase the number of countries included. Some countries like Afghanistan and North Korea were not included in the first index because reliable data for all 24 indicators was not available.

 

121 GPI rankings

 

Countries most at peace ranked first

Rank/Country/Score

1 Norway 1.357

2 New Zealand 1.363

3 Denmark 1.377

4 Ireland 1.396

5 Japan 1.413

6 Finland 1.447

7 Sweden 1.478

8 Canada 1.481

9 Portugal 1.481

10 Austria 1.483

11 Belgium 1.498

12 Germany 1.523

13 Czech Republic 1.524

14 Switzerland 1.526

15 Slovenia 1.539

16 Chile 1.568

17 Slovakia 1.571

18 Hungary 1.575

19 Bhutan 1.611

20 Netherlands 1.620

21 Spain 1.633

22 Oman 1.641

23 Hong Kong 1.657

24 Uruguay 1.661

25 Australia 1.664

26 Romania 1.682

27 Poland 1.683

28 Estonia 1.684

29 Singapore 1.692

30 Qatar 1.702

31 Costa Rica 1.702

32 South Korea 1.719

33 Italy 1.724

34 France 1.729

35 Vietnam 1.729

36 Taiwan 1.731

37 Malaysia 1.744

38 United Arab Emirates 1.747

39 Tunisia 1.762

40 Ghana 1.765

41 Madagascar 1.766

42 Botswana 1.786

43 Lithuania 1.788

44 Greece 1.791

45 Panama 1.798

46 Kuwait 1.818

47 Latvia 1.848

48 Morocco 1.893

49 United Kingdom 1.898

50 Mozambique 1.909

51 Cyprus 1.915

52 Argentina 1.923

53 Zambia 1.930

54 Bulgaria 1.936

55 Paraguay 1.946

56 Gabon 1.952

57 Tanzania 1.966

58 Libya 1.967

59 Cuba 1.968

60 China 1.980

61 Kazakhstan 1.995

62 Bahrain 1.995

63 Jordan 1.997

64 Namibia 2.003

65 Senegal 2.017

66 Nicaragua 2.020

67 Croatia 2.030

68 Malawi 2.038

69 Bolivia 2.052

70 Peru 2.056

71 Equatorial Guinea 2.059

72 Moldova 2.059

73 Egypt 2.068

74 Dominican Republic 2.071

75 Bosnia and Herzegovina 2.089

76 Cameroon 2.093

77 Syria 2.106

78 Indonesia 2.111

79 Mexico 2.125

80 Ukraine 2.150

81 Jamaica 2.164

82 Macedonia 2.170

83 Brazil 2.173

84 Serbia 2.181

85 Cambodia 2.197

86 Bangladesh 2.219

87 Ecuador 2.219

88 Papua New Guinea 2.223

89 El Salvador 2.244

90 Saudi Arabia 2.246

91 Kenya 2.258

92 Turkey 2.272

93 Guatemala 2.285

94 Trinidad andTobago 2.286

95 Yemen 2.309

96 United States of America 2.317

97 Iran 2.320

98 Honduras 2.390

99 South Africa 2.399

100 Philippines 2.428

101 Azerbaijan 2.448

102 Venezuela 2.453

103 Ethiopia 2.479

104 Uganda 2.489

105 Thailand 2.491

106 Zimbabwe 2.495

107 Algeria 2.503

108 Myanmar 2.524

109 India 2.530

110 Uzbekistan 2.542

111 Sri Lanka 2.575

112 Angola 2.587

113 Cote d’Ivoire 2.638

114 Lebanon 2.662

115 Pakistan 2.697

116 Colombia 2.770

117 Nigeria 2.898

118 Russia 2.903

119 Israel 3.033

120 Sudan 3.182

121 Iraq 3.437

 

© Reuters 2007

 

Common Dreams

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