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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
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