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Message: <blockquote data-quote="rapa" data-source="post: 559767" data-attributes="member: 212">The Global Peace Index rankings: Some musings"Peace cannot be achieved through violence; it can only be attained through understanding."— Ralph Waldo EmersonThe Global Peace Index (GPI) rankings have been released. Of 121 countries studied by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) on the basis of data received from various sources, by using 24 indicators including military expenditure, access to arms, level of violence, corruption, human rights, engagement in war, incidence of crime etc. Norway has come first as the most peaceful country, while Sri Lanka’s rank is 111. (The full list of the rankings is carried in this paper today.)If those who are all out to confer the ‘failed state’ status on Sri Lanka are getting ready to dance on the streets, here is some bad news for them. The US has been ranked 96 and India 109! Iraq, which the US and the UK (ranking 49th) have gone all out to democratise, has come last! Interestingly, Cuba and China have come 59th and 60th respectively! Iran is in the exalted company of its bete noire, the US, occupying the 97th slot on the list.The main reason for Sri Lanka’s GPI position is that it is battling terrorism. But for the on-going war and the attendant human rights violations, its position would have been much higher notwithstanding the other negative factors such as corruption. War has cost this country dearly in many respects, as evident from human rights violations, the high incidence of crime, poor economic performance and the increasing desensitisation of society to violence.Who created terrorism here and who is sponsoring it at present? It is the countries responsible for those crimes that must take the bigger share of the blame for Sri Lanka’s poor GPI ranking.India fathered Sri Lanka’s terrorism and created her protracted war. The UK allows Lanka’s terrorism to be coordinated from the British soil, despite a ban. Some British parliamentarians have become putty in the hands of Sri Lanka’s terrorists. Norway, which is the most peaceful country according to the GPI, sponsors Sri Lanka’s terrorism by allowing its activists to operate freely on her soil and raise funds for their violent project. The same goes for other Scandinavian countries, which have secured impressive GPI rankings.Where Sri Lanka’s terrorism is concerned, the US position is, to use a phrase that Churchill famously used to describe Russia, ‘a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.’ The US wants terrorism wiped out wherever it manifests itself. It is supporting Israel’s military offensives against Hezbollah and has thrown its weight behind the Lebanese government to help it keep the Islamic insurgents at bay. It assists Colombia to the hilt in fighting FARC guerrillas and is unleashing hell on Afghanistan and Iraq in search of terrorists. But, in Sri Lanka, the Eagle is cooing like a dove!The GPI should have ‘sponsoring terrorism’ as an indicator in determining the peacefulness of a country. Such a criterion is of great import as terrorism is the biggest threat to global peace. How can a country be considered ‘peaceful’, if it helps nurture violence elsewhere? If that indicator was ever adopted, what would happen to the GPI ranking of Norway, which allows funds to be collected on its soil for bombs that kill hundreds of civilians in Sri Lanka?The EIU should thoroughly examine the background of the nations it studies before ranking them, without relying on statistics alone. Recently, when the Maldivian Coast Guard intercepted an Indian vessel commandeered by Sri Lanka’s terrorists with a consignment of arms on board, a foreign embassy in Colombo went all out to secure its release, out of its concern for the pirates, but in vain. Shouldn’t such instances be thoroughly investigated before countries are given GPI rankings? It is not only among people that one finds Dr. Jekylls and Mr. Hydes. States, too, behave in a similar manner. In judging the peacefulness of a country, how it relates to the outside world should also be taken into consideration. Similarly, a complete list of the organisations, on whose information the GPI is based, should be made public. Their background, too, needs to be studied.It is ironical that some members of the international community giving Sri Lanka gratuitous advice on conflict resolution have got lower GPI rankings. Having failed to be ‘peaceful’ themselves, how can they guide Sri Lanka along the path to peace? Isn’t what we are witnessing a case of the blind leading the blind?It is not being argued that Sri Lanka shouldn’t strive to achieve a higher GPI ranking on its own. Action needs to be taken to obviate human rights violations, combat crime, curb corruption etc.Let the GPI be an eye opener! First Global PeaceIndex ranks 121 countriesNorway tops list, U.S. comes in at 96, India 109, Lanka 111 and Russia 118 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 rankingThe 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 rankingsCountries most at peace ranked firstRank Country Score1 Norway 1.3572 New Zealand 1.3633 Denmark 1.3774 Ireland 1.3965 Japan 1.4136 Finland 1.4477 Sweden 1.4788 Canada 1.4819 Portugal 1.48110 Austria 1.48311 Belgium 1.49812 Germany 1.52313 Czech Republic 1.52414 Switzerland 1.52615 Slovenia 1.53916 Chile 1.56817 Slovakia 1.57118 Hungary 1.57519 Bhutan 1.61120 Netherlands 1.62021 Spain 1.63322 Oman 1.64123 Hong Kong 1.65724 Uruguay 1.66125 Australia 1.66426 Romania 1.68227 Poland 1.68328 Estonia 1.68429 Singapore 1.69230 Qatar 1.70231 Costa Rica 1.70232 South Korea 1.71933 Italy 1.72434 France 1.72935 Vietnam 1.72936 Taiwan 1.73137 Malaysia 1.74438 UAE 1.74739 Tunisia 1.76240 Ghana 1.76541 Madagascar 1.76642 Botswana 1.78643 Lithuania 1.78844 Greece 1.79145 Panama 1.79846 Kuwait 1.81847 Latvia 1.84848 Morocco 1.89349 United Kingdom 1.89850 Mozambique 1.90951 Cyprus 1.91552 Argentina 1.92353 Zambia 1.93054 Bulgaria 1.93655 Paraguay 1.94656 Gabon 1.95257 Tanzania 1.96658 Libya 1.96759 Cuba 1.96860 China 1.98061 Kazakhstan 1.99562 Bahrain 1.99563 Jordan 1.99764 Namibia 2.00365 Senegal 2.01766 Nicaragua 2.02067 Croatia 2.03068 Malawi 2.03869 Bolivia 2.05270 Peru 2.05671 Equatorial Guinea 2.05972 Moldova 2.05973 Egypt 2.06874 Dominican R 2.07175 Bosnia and Her... 2.08976 Cameroon 2.09377 Syria 2.10678 Indonesia 2.11179 Mexico 2.12580 Ukraine 2.15081 Jamaica 2.16482 Macedonia 2.17083 Brazil 2.17384 Serbia 2.18185 Cambodia 2.19786 Bangladesh 2.21987 Ecuador 2.21988 Papua New Guinea 2.22389 El Salvador 2.24490 Saudi Arabia 2.24691 Kenya 2.25892 Turkey 2.27293 Guatemala 2.28594 Tri... and Tobago 2.28695 Yemen 2.30996 USA 2.31797 Iran 2.32098 Honduras 2.39099 South Africa 2.399100 Philippines 2.428101 Azerbaijan 2.448102 Venezuela 2.453103 Ethiopia 2.479104 Uganda 2.489105 Thailand 2.491106 Zimbabwe 2.495107 Algeria 2.503108 Myanmar 2.524109 India 2.530110 Uzbekistan 2.542111 Sri Lanka 2.575112 Angola 2.587113 Cote d'Ivoire 2.638114 Lebanon 2.662115 Pakistan 2.697116 Colombia 2.770117 Nigeria 2.898118 Russia 2.903119 Israel 3.033120 Sudan 3.182121 Iraq 3.437SOURCE Global Peace Index</blockquote>

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