The Global Peace Index has ranked Iraq as the least peaceful country in 2009. This is not surprising, as Iraq has been plagued by violence and inept government for decades.
I was surprised by Israel's ranking, which is near the bottom between Sudan and Somalia. I was also surprised to see Qatar tied with Germany at 16th. This despite the fact that Qatar hosts the United States Central Command (CENTCOM). How did the Qataris achieve such peace, despite the US military presence?
New Zealand is ranked first in peace. New Zealand also happens to be the biggest pot smoking nation in the world - I overheard this from a tour guide in Amsterdam. Just a coincidence?
1 comment :
Dear Iraqi Mojo
Just to introduce myself, my name's Ellie and I'm writing on behalf of the Global Peace Index (GPI).
First of all we would like to sincerely thank you for previously including the GPI in your blog in the past.
As you'll be aware, the GPI is a ground-breaking piece of research in the study of peace, which not only ranks nations by their peacefulness but also seeks to identify the drivers of peace. Now in its fourth year, the Index is produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace, a global think tank dedicated to the research and education of the relationship between economic development, business and peace. It is collated and calculated by the Economist Intelligence Unit.
We're getting in touch to alert you to the fact that the next Global Peace Index will be launched on June 8th 2010. We'll be providing you with further information closer to the time - unless you tell us that you'd rather not hear from us again - but thought you might appreciate the heads-up in the meantime.
You might want to join us on Facebook too:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Global-Peace-Index/92288319748?ref=ts
and follow us on Twitter
http://twitter.com/GlobPeaceIndex
If you've got any thought or questions about the Index, our methodology, or our organisation, please get in touch. We hope you find our research interesting and informative, and look forward to sharing this year's findings with you in a few weeks' time.
Best Wishes,
Ellie Kirby - updates@visionofhumanity.org
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