Severe Indictment Of U.S. Foreign Policy

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Severe Indictment Of U.S. Foreign Policy

By César Chelala

06/05/07 -- "ICH" -- -- New York -- -- According to the just released Global Peace Index, created by The Economist Intelligence Unit, the U.S. is among the least peaceful nations in the world. And Russia is even less so, a severe condemnation for these two powerful countries. This serious indictment shows the need to reassess policies and return to the rule of international law if the goal for a more peaceful world is to be achieved.

The US ranked 96 out of 121 nations considered, worse than Yemen and slightly better than Iran, Honduras and South Africa. As a comparison, Japan ranked 5th, and three Scandinavian countries (Norway, Denmark and Sweden) ranked among the seven most peaceful countries in the world. Fifteen of the top most peaceful nations are in Western Europe, in countries with democratic values and good standard of living.

The index was based in 24 different indicators which measured peace inside and outside a country. The external indicators included the number of wars a country was involved in the last five years, how much money was earned in arms sales, how many soldiers were killed overseas, and defense spending.

A 2005 report by the World Policy Institute states that most of the U.S.’ arms sales to developing countries go to governments that the U.S. State Department qualifies as undemocratic, such as Pakistan, Angola and Saudi Arabia. Presently, U.S. military expenditures equal those of the next 25 countries put together. According to the Stockholm Peace Research Institute, military global spending in 2004 was over $1 trillion. Of that amount, almost 47 percent was spent by the U.S.

Domestic indicators included the number of people in prisons, relations with other countries, level of distrust in other citizens and number of violent crimes. The results were then reviewed by a panel of experts, who tried to find out the qualities that lead to a more peaceful environment.

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http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17831.htm

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1. "the qualities that lead to a more peaceful environment"

is that really so difficult?

Jobs with decent pay and human working conditions, tolerance for diversity in the community, honesty and openness in government.

What's so hard about that?