Australia the lucky country, but not so peaceful
Louise Williams
May 31, 2007
IF YOU are looking for peace, go to Norway or New Zealand. These two small nations topped the first Global Peace Index, a world study which ranked Australia the 25th most peaceful nation, but rated the US a dismal 93rd, well below China and its fellow nuclear powers Britain and France.
The Global Peace Index, commissioned by a Sydney information technology entrepreneur and philanthropist, Steve Killelea, found the citizens of small, affluent, educated and well-governed societies - which get on with the neighbours - have the best prospects for living in peace.
The world's markedly most peaceful region is Western Europe, largely due to the European Union, built out of the ashes of World War II to prevent a return to conflict. Asia ranks next most peaceful on average, with exceptions such as Burma, the Philippines and Thailand near the bottom of this year's rankings. The least peaceful places on earth are Iraq, Sudan and Israel.
The index, released overnight in London and endorsed by global peace advocates such as the Dalai Lama, will assess the state of world peace each year.
It is the first systematic measure of global peacefulness, rating internal harmony using criteria such as violent crime and loose weapons, jail populations, human rights, distrust of others and the deployment of armed police, plus external peace using indicators such as military budgets, weapons stockpiles, arms exports and involvement in external conflicts. The index seeks to turn conventional studies of war around. Instead of merely investigating the causes of conflict, it looks for key "drivers" of peace, in an attempt to produce useful models of peacefulness.
"For internal peace we found a strong correlation between low levels of corruption and high levels of peace, for example," said Robin Bew, editorial director of the Economist Intelligence Unit, which carried out the research. "It was also striking that the more people you have in school and the longer they stay there, the more likely a country is to enjoy peace."
Norway ranked first and New Zealand second because both use their small armed forces only in peacekeeping, enjoy respect for human rights, have few violent demonstrations, low crime rates and good relations with neighbouring nations. Australian and New Zealand integration was especially noted and Australia's internal indicators of peace were comparable with New Zealand's.
Australia's military role in Iraq, a negative score because it is not a United Nations-sanctioned operation, is almost wholly responsible for Australia's much lower ranking on the index.
Wealth, health, education and good environmental performance all correlated with peacefulness, yet the world's richest nation, the US, found itself right down the list, just ahead of Iran.
Mr Bew said the US ranking reflects the post-Cold War "Pax Americana"; with only one global superpower, the US in effect acts as a global policeman and has high levels of military expenditure and military engagement beyond it borders to match. Russia, its former Cold War foe, is fourth last, reflecting its huge armoury and bloody engagement in Chechnya.
Globally, wars and internal conflicts have fallen significantly since World War II and again over the past 25 years, despite the Iraq war. Yet new potential threats are emerging due to climate change and likely competition over dwindling natural resources and the increasing spread of small, powerful weapons.
And if anyone says different I'll ^*@#en smash 'em. - )&#@*s
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