Global Peace Index: Norway first, America 96th, Iran 97th

[D-Fence]

First Global Peace Index Ranks 121 Countries

Norway tops list, U.S. comes in at 96

WASHINGTON, May 30 /PRNewswire/ -- The first study to rank countries
around the world according to their peacefulness and the drivers that
create and sustain their peace was launched today. The Global Peace Index
studied 121 countries from Algeria to Zimbabwe and its publication comes
one week before the leaders of the world's richest countries gather for the
G8 summit in Germany to discuss issues of global concern.
The rankings show that even among the G8 countries there are
significant differences in peacefulness: While Japan was the most peaceful
of the G8 countries, at a rank of five in the Index, Russia neared the
bottom at number 118. The Global Peace Index also reveals that countries
which had a turbulent time for parts of the twentieth century, such as
Ireland and Germany, have emerged as peace leaders in the 21st century.
The Economist Intelligence Unit measured countries' peacefulness based
on wide range of indicators - 24 in all - including ease of access to
"weapons of minor destruction" (guns, small explosives), military
expenditure, local corruption, and the level of respect for human rights.
After compiling the Index, the researchers examined it for patterns in
order to identify the "drivers" that make for peaceful societies. They
found that peaceful countries often shared high levels of democracy and
transparency of government, education and material well-being. While the
U.S. possesses many of these characteristics, its ranking was brought down
by its engagement in warfare and external conflict, as well as high levels
of incarceration and homicide. The U.S.'s rank also suffered due to the
large share of military expenditure from its GDP, attributed to its status
as one of the world's military-diplomatic powers.
The main findings of the Global Peace Index are:

-- Peace is correlated to indicators such as income, schooling and the
level of regional integration
-- Peaceful countries often shared high levels of transparency of
government and low corruption
-- Small, stable countries which are part of regional blocs are most
likely to get a higher ranking
The Index is the brainchild of Australian IT entrepreneur and
philanthropist Steve Killelea.
"The objective of the Global Peace Index was to go beyond a crude
measure of wars by systematically exploring the texture of peace,"
explained Global Peace Index President, Mr. Clyde McConaghy, speaking in
Washington. "The Index provides a quantitative measure of peacefulness that
is comparable over time, and we hope it will inspire and influence world
leaders and governments to further action."
The Index has already won the support of an influential and
distinguished group of supporters, many of whom are dedicated to promoting
global peace, including former U.S. President James Carter, the Dalai Lama,
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Sir Richard Branson and Harriet Fulbright of the
Fulbright Centre.
"This Index stands to broaden our very definition of what peace is, as
well as how to achieve it," said Fulbright. "Peace isn't just the absence
of war; it's the absence of violence."
"Countries need to become more peaceful to solve the major challenges
that the world faces - from climate change to overpopulation and
sustainability," said Mr. McConaghy.
"We hope that the findings of the Global Peace Index will act as a
catalyst for increased funding to study peace and for governments and
industry to take policy action," he added.
NOTES TO EDITORS
-- The Global Peace Index covers 121 countries.
-- The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the country intelligence
division of The Economist Group that publishes The Economist newspaper,
has compiled the Index.
-- The EIU used all its country analysts in gathering and scoring the
data, in collaboration with its contributor network of 650 people.
-- The Index is made up of nearly 3,000 data points with another 4,000
relating to the drivers of peace (6897 in total).
-- The Global Peace Index has been peer reviewed by an international panel
of the world's leading peace experts.
-- Steve Killelea is an Australian IT entrepreneur and philanthropist. He
is the Chairman and Founder of Integrated Research Ltd. He founded his
charity, The Charitable Foundation (TCF), in 2000.
-- TCF specializes in working with the poorest communities in the world
and is currently active in ten countries including Rwanda, Uganda,
Laos, Burma and East Timor.



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 and
Tobago 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


SOURCE Global Peace Index










Ha Germany is more peaceful than the Netherlands (I always knew it!)

Not saying anything about the other countries *cough 96th*

[BlaRo]

Originally Posted by D-Fence

Not saying anything about the other countries *cough 96th*

Must be all the guns that we stockpile en masse so we can shoot each other on a regular basis, haha.

Iraq in last place? NO WAI!!!!!111!1

[Donington]

Kazakhstan beat China and Cuba. Nice!

[jetsetter]

Lists like these need to be taken with a grain of salt.

[Vette Boss]

Originally Posted by jetsetter

Lists like these need to be taken with a grain of salt.

Especially when every civilised European nation is above America? I happen to think the list for the most part, correct. Most American motorists are ignorant and ill-behaved behind the wheel, with their phones and such being a priority over actually driving the car.

[hajj]

Originally Posted by D-Fence

The main findings of the Global Peace Index are:

-- Peace is correlated to indicators such as income, schooling and the
level of regional integration

-- Small, stable countries which are part of regional blocs are most
likely to get a higher ranking

YEAH right, that's why Israel is 119th and the US are 96th. Without those two parts in bold it would be difficult to explain why Israel has come so low. This index is pretty useless really.

[jetsetter]

Originally Posted by Vette Boss

Especially when every civilised European nation is above America? I happen to think the list for the most part, correct. Most American motorists are ignorant and ill-behaved behind the wheel, with their phones and such being a priority over actually driving the car.

Who mentioned phones?

As for the lists, I have seen lists on same subjects but with differing results.

[Adunaphel]

This list isn't about driving habits, but about other things. In the end i think the large number of unschooled immigrants in the US, together with the fact that nearly everyone can own a gun and a government that started 2 wars in the last 5 years. Combine that with a very secretive secret service and lots of alleged coverups and there you are.

[Vette Boss]

Originally Posted by jetsetter

Who mentioned phones?

As for the lists, I have seen lists on same subjects but with differing results.

I mentioned them. Phones and lack of legislation for them is part of what makes it awful to drive here. People are more bothered about their bloody mobile phone than driving.

[D-Fence]

Vette-Boss it has nothing to do with motoring, "drivers" is to be understood as "factors", not as "motorists"

[jetsetter]

This list isn't about driving habits, but about other things. In the end i think the large number of unschooled immigrants in the US, together with the fact that nearly everyone can own a gun and a government that started 2 wars in the last 5 years. Combine that with a very secretive secret service and lots of alleged coverups and there you are.

1. You have little knowledge of the various state to state gun laws and legislation.

2. The Secret Service protects politicians and deals with counterfeit money.

3. I'll give you Iraq but Afghanistan is a little more complicated.

4. The "unschooled immigrants" would be illegal immigrants.

[D-Fence]

Come on jetsetter, why do you always think someone is attacking you whenever America gets the slightest bit of critic? This is not an "anti-America" thread, everyone else just gives a short laugh and sticks to the facts, but you start a flaming again, so please, for Christs sake, stop it.

@ All: Please (!) don´t comment on the direction this is going again......

[Adunaphel]

Originally Posted by jetsetter

1. You have little knowledge of the various state to state gun laws and legislation.

That is true, and i don't care, they don't affect me.

Originally Posted by jetsetter

2. The Secret Service protects politicians and deals with counterfeit money.

There are lots of people who will tend to disagree with that, they keep mumbling about aliens and other gibberish like that

Originally Posted by jetsetter

3. I'll give you Iraq but Afghanistan is a little more complicated.

Still, the us started the war, that's all i said. I never said anything about justification.

Originally Posted by jetsetter

4. The "unschooled immigrants" would be illegal immigrants.

but that doesn't make them less unschooled

[eltoro507]

.

[hajj]

Originally Posted by Adunaphel

but that doesn't make them less unschooled

Are all legal immigrants schooled and all illegal immigrants unschooled? Probably not. I don't see how those immigrants could drag the US that low

Originally Posted by Adunaphel

Still, the us started the war, that's all i said. I never said anything about justification.

And we also fight there (Germans and dutch) and pretty much since it started.

[D-Fence]

well at least this thread started a really nice intellectual debate in the IRC channel