Global Peace Index - Thailand Ranks 105th

[Taggart]

First Global Peace Index Ranks 121 Countries

Norway tops list, U.S. comes in at 96

WASHINGTON, May 30 /PRNewswire/ -- The first study to rank countries

around the world according to their peacefulness and the drivers that

create and sustain their peace was launched today. The Global Peace Index

studied 121 countries from Algeria to Zimbabwe and its publication comes

one week before the leaders of the world's richest countries gather for the

G8 summit in Germany to discuss issues of global concern.

The rankings show that even among the G8 countries there are

significant differences in peacefulness: While Japan was the most peaceful

of the G8 countries, at a rank of five in the Index, Russia neared the

bottom at number 118. The Global Peace Index also reveals that countries

which had a turbulent time for parts of the twentieth century, such as

Ireland and Germany, have emerged as peace leaders in the 21st century.

The Economist Intelligence Unit measured countries' peacefulness based

on wide range of indicators - 24 in all - including ease of access to

"weapons of minor destruction" (guns, small explosives), military

expenditure, local corruption, and the level of respect for human rights.

After compiling the Index, the researchers examined it for patterns in

order to identify the "drivers" that make for peaceful societies. They

found that peaceful countries often shared high levels of democracy and

transparency of government, education and material well-being. While the

U.S. possesses many of these characteristics, its ranking was brought down

by its engagement in warfare and external conflict, as well as high levels

of incarceration and homicide. The U.S.'s rank also suffered due to the

large share of military expenditure from its GDP, attributed to its status

as one of the world's military-diplomatic powers.

The main findings of the Global Peace Index are:

-- Peace is correlated to indicators such as income, schooling and the

level of regional integration

-- Peaceful countries often shared high levels of transparency of

government and low corruption

-- Small, stable countries which are part of regional blocs are most

likely to get a higher ranking

The Index is the brainchild of Australian IT entrepreneur and

philanthropist Steve Killelea.

"The objective of the Global Peace Index was to go beyond a crude

measure of wars by systematically exploring the texture of peace,"

explained Global Peace Index President, Mr. Clyde McConaghy, speaking in

Washington. "The Index provides a quantitative measure of peacefulness that

is comparable over time, and we hope it will inspire and influence world

leaders and governments to further action."

The Index has already won the support of an influential and

distinguished group of supporters, many of whom are dedicated to promoting

global peace, including former U.S. President James Carter, the Dalai Lama,

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Sir Richard Branson and Harriet Fulbright of the

Fulbright Centre.

"This Index stands to broaden our very definition of what peace is, as

well as how to achieve it," said Fulbright. "Peace isn't just the absence

of war; it's the absence of violence."

"Countries need to become more peaceful to solve the major challenges

that the world faces - from climate change to overpopulation and

sustainability," said Mr. McConaghy.

"We hope that the findings of the Global Peace Index will act as a

catalyst for increased funding to study peace and for governments and

industry to take policy action," he added.

NOTES TO EDITORS

-- The Global Peace Index covers 121 countries.

-- The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the country intelligence

division of The Economist Group that publishes The Economist newspaper,

has compiled the Index.

-- The EIU used all its country analysts in gathering and scoring the

data, in collaboration with its contributor network of 650 people.

-- The Index is made up of nearly 3,000 data points with another 4,000

relating to the drivers of peace (6897 in total).

-- The Global Peace Index has been peer reviewed by an international panel

of the world's leading peace experts.

121 GPI rankings

Countries most at peace ranked first

Rank Country Score

1 Norway 1.357

2 New Zealand 1.363

3 Denmark 1.377

4 Ireland 1.396

5 Japan 1.413

6 Finland 1.447

7 Sweden 1.478

8 Canada 1.481

9 Portugal 1.481

10 Austria 1.483

11 Belgium 1.498

12 Germany 1.523

13 Czech Republic 1.524

14 Switzerland 1.526

15 Slovenia 1.539

16 Chile 1.568

17 Slovakia 1.571

18 Hungary 1.575

19 Bhutan 1.611

20 Netherlands 1.620

21 Spain 1.633

22 Oman 1.641

23 Hong Kong 1.657

24 Uruguay 1.661

25 Australia 1.664

26 Romania 1.682

27 Poland 1.683

28 Estonia 1.684

29 Singapore 1.692

30 Qatar 1.702

31 Costa Rica 1.702

32 South Korea 1.719

33 Italy 1.724

34 France 1.729

35 Vietnam 1.729

36 Taiwan 1.731

37 Malaysia 1.744

38 United Arab

Emirates 1.747

39 Tunisia 1.762

40 Ghana 1.765

41 Madagascar 1.766

42 Botswana 1.786

43 Lithuania 1.788

44 Greece 1.791

45 Panama 1.798

46 Kuwait 1.818

47 Latvia 1.848

48 Morocco 1.893

49 United Kingdom 1.898

50 Mozambique 1.909

51 Cyprus 1.915

52 Argentina 1.923

53 Zambia 1.930

54 Bulgaria 1.936

55 Paraguay 1.946

56 Gabon 1.952

57 Tanzania 1.966

58 Libya 1.967

59 Cuba 1.968

60 China 1.980

61 Kazakhstan 1.995

62 Bahrain 1.995

63 Jordan 1.997

64 Namibia 2.003

65 Senegal 2.017

66 Nicaragua 2.020

67 Croatia 2.030

68 Malawi 2.038

69 Bolivia 2.052

70 Peru 2.056

71 Equatorial

Guinea 2.059

72 Moldova 2.059

73 Egypt 2.068

74 Dominican

Republic 2.071

75 Bosnia and

Herzegovina 2.089

76 Cameroon 2.093

77 Syria 2.106

78 Indonesia 2.111

79 Mexico 2.125

80 Ukraine 2.150

81 Jamaica 2.164

82 Macedonia 2.170

83 Brazil 2.173

84 Serbia 2.181

85 Cambodia 2.197

86 Bangladesh 2.219

87 Ecuador 2.219

88 Papua New

Guinea 2.223

89 El Salvador 2.244

90 Saudi Arabia 2.246

91 Kenya 2.258

92 Turkey 2.272

93 Guatemala 2.285

94 Trinidad and

Tobago 2.286

95 Yemen 2.309

96 United States

of America 2.317

97 Iran 2.320

98 Honduras 2.390

99 South Africa 2.399

100 Philippines 2.428

101 Azerbaijan 2.448

102 Venezuela 2.453

103 Ethiopia 2.479

104 Uganda 2.489

105 Thailand 2.491

106 Zimbabwe 2.495

107 Algeria 2.503

108 Myanmar 2.524

109 India 2.530

110 Uzbekistan 2.542

111 Sri Lanka 2.575

112 Angola 2.587

113 Cote d'Ivoire 2.638

114 Lebanon 2.662

115 Pakistan 2.697

116 Colombia 2.770

117 Nigeria 2.898

118 Russia 2.903

119 Israel 3.033

120 Sudan 3.182

121 Iraq 3.437