Israel 3rd from bottom on Global Peace Index

[Violet_Crumble]

British Economist ranks 121 countries according to Global Peace Index. Israel rated 119, beating out only Sudan, Iraq. US ranked 96, just ahead of Iran. Compliers say study does not pass judgment on foreign policy or values



Israel is among the least peaceful nations in the world, along with Sudan and Iraq. This according to a study by The Economist intelligence unit. The most peaceful nations in the world are Norway, New Zealand and Denmark.

Some two dozen indicators were factored into the calculations. Among them were wars fought in the last five years, arms sales, political stability, relations with neighboring countries, human rights, overall percentage of state budget devoted to military causes, number of women in parliament, freedom of the press, immigration figures, male-to-female ratio, prison populations and incidence of crime.

Israel received 3,033 negative points. The index awarded 1-5 points for each parameter (1 being the most peaceful).


Israel received 4-5 points on the following – number of citizens serving in the military, relations with neighboring counties, military spenditure and potential terror attacks within the country. The index awarded Israel 1 point only for the number of refugees it plays host to and non-UN deployments this past year.

Israel's neighbors fared much better: Jordan ranked 63, Egypt – 73, Syria – 77 and Lebanon ranked 114.

Norway was rated as the country most at peace, followed by New Zealand, Denmark, Ireland, Japan, Finland, Sweden, Canada, Portugal and Austria. Iraq was in last place, followed by Sudan, Israel, Russia, Nigeria, Colombia, Pakistan, Lebanon, Cote d' Ivoire and Angola.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3406941,00.html

[Englander]

1. Link to the list;

http://www.visionofhumanity.com/rankings/

[oberliner]

2. Some questions about this index

I am looking for - but not finding - some explanation for why so many countries (primarily in Africa) were not included in this list.

There have got to be at least thirty African countries excluded from this report. (The DR of the Congo and Somalia being two of the more glaring omissions)

I notice that North Korea isn't listed either for some reason (South Korea is). And also, no Afghanistan.

In adddition, I think the methodology for determining the rankings is a bit arbitrary.

Not sure how you can rank "level of distrust in other citizens" on a 1-5 scale.

It also seems odd that having a higher level of military sophistication puts you lower on the index. I don't know that a lack of military sophistication is positively correlated with peace. (Sudan, for instance, earns a "2" in this category ("1" being the "most peaceful"))