Global Peace Index

[Xàbia Shrimper]

"The Global Peace Index is a ground-breaking milestone in the study of peace. It is the first time that an Index has been created that ranks the nations of the world by their peacefulness and identified some of the drivers of that peace. 121 countries have been ranked by their ‘absence of violence’, using metrics that combine both internal and external factors. Most people understand the absence of violence as an indicator of peace. This definition also allows for the measuring of peacefulness within, as well as between, nations."

Top of the pile was Norway and the United Kingdom was ranked 49th; so how safe are the exiled Shrimpers around the world? John in Canada seems to be living in the safest country of all the exiles at the moment:

8. Canada
20. Spain
25. Australia
83. Brazil
92. Turkey
96. USA

Where are you? (Malta isn't included in the list for some reason.)

 

[Dept36]

So where did france come out?

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

"The Global Peace Index is a ground-breaking milestone in the study of peace. It is the first time that an Index has been created that ranks the nations of the world by their peacefulness and identified some of the drivers of that peace. 121 countries have been ranked by their ‘absence of violence’, using metrics that combine both internal and external factors. Most people understand the absence of violence as an indicator of peace. This definition also allows for the measuring of peacefulness within, as well as between, nations."

Top of the pile was Norway and the United Kingdom was ranked 49th; so how safe are the exiled Shrimpers around the world? John in Canada seems to be living in the safest country of all the exiles at the moment:

8. Canada
20. Spain
25. Australia
83. Brazil
92. Turkey
96. USA

Where are you? (Malta isn't included in the list for some reason.)

Nothing particularly surprising there... I'd be interested to find out who comiled this, what their political sympathies are and what calculations they used. Otherwise I'll just take it with a hefty pinch of salt.

Odd, for example, that a country like Spain which has internal terrorism in the form of ETA, and the Madrid bombs only recently, is judged more peaceful and lacking in violence than Australia... anyone remember (without looking it up) the last bomb on Australian soil? I wonder what the respective crime figures are etc...

Sounds like more "anti-imperialist" Iraq war-bashing

:rolleyes:

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Interesting...

It turns out that the Index was 'the brainchild' of an Australian - a Repulican Labor party supporter and critic of John Howard. He has 'won influential support' from a who's who of global lefty has beens (or never weres)...

Among those who feature highly are the Democrats in the US - I've nothing against them, but I reckon they will support anything which criticises Bush policy regardless of its' actual scientific merit.

France is 34th by the way - despite its' fantastic record promoting peace *cough* in Africa (see various articles on Chirac's record - some reasonable ones on the BBC for example)

Other selected ones:

72 Moldova (a completely lawless state with a breakaway Trans-Dniestr region, with fighting between ethnic Russians and Moldovans)
77 Syria (hardly need to mention Lebanon here)
83 Brazil (an extremely dangerous place where gun crime and kidnapping are among the worst in the world)
96 USA
97 Iran
102 Venezuela
105 Zimbabwe

Not entirely surprisingly, I'm still looking for the actual calculations behind this...

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Well I'm bored already - here's the website for anyone who cares to look:

Global Peace Index

Lots of guff about the various 'indicators' etc and even a simple formula - but that is based on rankings by the 'analysis unit' which are subjective, so no real answers there...

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Bingo!

"The Global Peace Index has been developed in conjunction with:

The Economist Intelligence Unit
an international panel of peace experts from Peace Institutes and Think Tanks
the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Sydney, Australia"

That's all right then - an entirely impartial, unpolitical and balanced view of the World

:thump: :D

 

[SARF]

Do the highly ranking Nordic countries inculde the stats for all the blokes who top themselves as its dark for 6 months of the year and a beer costs more than car.. ?

 

[SARF]

Also what would the results be if America hadn't bothered using its military might to protect Europe since WW2

 

[Xàbia Shrimper]

Odd, for example, that a country like Spain which has internal terrorism in the form of ETA, and the Madrid bombs only recently, is judged more peaceful and lacking in violence than Australia.

I thought that was odd as well, although I think that ETA as a terrorist unit is slowly but surely being eradicated from within; its political clout remains solid but I've no more fear of being a victim of an ETA bomb than I was of an IRA one when I worked in the City. There is still the occasional incident but I think that this are more the actions of a very small but determined minority (much like the Real IRA) as demonstrated at Madrid's Barajas airport last December.

No country can ever protect itself from religious determination, as demonstrated in New York, Washington, Madrid and London over the past few years, and I would not be surprised if another city was targeted in the next twelve months. It could be Australia, it could be Norway. Who knows?

In terms of standard violence (if there is such a concept), I feel far safer walking the streets at night in Spain than I ever did in the last couple of years living in the UK therefore, for me, it makes sense that Spain is a lot higher in the index. Sadly (and unsurprisingly) the few occasions when I have felt uncomfortable here has been in the presence of drunk Brits on holiday.

 

[osymandus]

Do the highly ranking Nordic countries inculde the stats for all the blokes who top themselves as its dark for 6 months of the year and a beer costs more than car.. ?

Another Urban myth . While they do have suicides from depression its no higher then normal (those stat's we're usualy US funded (Norway for instance is V rich and does own quite a sizable share in multinations based in teh US).

Having just come back from there . At no point did they break out hostilities , engage in over seas manipulation for the fun of it.

Lovely people .

 

[osymandus]

Also what would the results be if America hadn't bothered using its military might to protect Europe since WW2

Mostly the same if it had occured after the ill fated Russian invasion ;)

Intially, USA army was "cannon fodder" they got better but their tanks , weapons and tactics were generaly bad.

The supplies we're very welcome however massive amounts were destroyed by the German Uboat's . Which we're taken out by Polish, Dutch , French and of course English effets.

To be fair no one "allie" won WWII

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

To be fair no one "allie" won WWII

:minger: ally?

 

[SARF]

Mostly the same if it had occured after the ill fated Russian invasion ;)

Intially, USA army was "cannon fodder" they got better but their tanks , weapons and tactics were generaly bad.

The supplies we're very welcome however massive amounts were destroyed by the German Uboat's . Which we're taken out by Polish, Dutch , French and of course English effets.

To be fair no one "allie" won WWII

Initially so was the BEF.. but I was refering to since WW2 or the cold war

 

[Einstein]

Well I'm bored already - here's the website for anyone who cares to look:

Global Peace Index

Lots of guff about the various 'indicators' etc and even a simple formula - but that is based on rankings by the 'analysis unit' which are subjective, so no real answers there...

Perhaps I'm missing something here, but where's the actual list?! :o

 

[Cricko2]

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/05-30-2007/0004598231&EDATE=

 

[Einstein]

20. Spain

Nice try!!

20 Netherlands - 1.620
21 Spain - 1.633

I can cope being second best behind Canada, it's a very lovely country. Couldn't cope with being behind Spain though!! :)

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Nothing particularly surprising there... I'd be interested to find out who comiled this, what their political sympathies are and what calculations they used. :

Comiling - (v) creating a list which takes the p...

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Comiling - (v) creating a list which takes the p...

:hilarious:

 

[Xàbia Shrimper]

Nice try!!

20 Netherlands - 1.620
21 Spain - 1.633

I can cope being second best behind Canada, it's a very lovely country. Couldn't cope with being behind Spain though!! :)

Not "trying" at all.

The list seems to have descrepancies: one page says 20th, another says 21st.

 

[Mad Cyril]

To be fair no one "ally" won WWII

I think you will find the final results were actually:

1. England
2. USA
3. USSR