[WCUSP] NORWAY RANKS HIGHEST ON PEACE INDEX

[yvonne simmons]

> 
> Norway ranks highest on peace index
> 
> May 31, 2007
> WASHINGTON (Reuters):
> 
> The United States is among the least peaceful
> nations in the world, ranking 96th between Yemen and
> Iran, according to a new index released yesterday
> that evaluates 121 nations based on their
> peacefulness.
> 
> According to the Global Peace Index, created by The
> Economist Intelligence Unit, Norway is the most
> peaceful nation in the world and Iraq is the least,
> just after Russia, Israel and Sudan.
> 
> "The objective of the Global Peace Index was to go
> beyond a crude measure of wars by systemically
> exploring the texture of peace," said Global Peace
> Index President Clyde McConaghy.
> 
> He said the inaugural effort proves "peace can and
> has and will continue to be measured."
> 
> The index was compiled based on 24 indicators
> measuring peace inside and outside of a country.
> They included the number of wars a country was
> involved in during the past five years, how many
> soldiers were killed overseas and how much money was
> made in arms sales.
> 
> Violent crimes
> 
> Domestic indicators included the level of violent
> crimes, relations with neighbouring countries and
> level of distrust in other citizens.
> 
> The results were then reviewed by a panel of
> international experts.
> 
> "We were trying to find out what positive qualities
> lead to peace," said Leo Abruzzese, the North
> American editorial director of the intelligence unit
> that is part of The Economist Group that publishes
> the well-known magazine. He said they found in
> general the most peaceful countries were the
> smallest, the most politically stable and
> democratic.
> 
> "Democracy didn't actually correlate with peace, but
> a well-functioning democracy did. Efficient,
> accountable government seems to be the leading
> determinant of peace. Beyond that, income helps."
> 
> Fifteen of the top 20 most peaceful nations are in
> Western Europe, and countries with higher income
> appeared to lead to higher levels of peace, he said.
> 
> The United States ranked 96th out of 121 nations,
> just worse than Yemen and just better than Iran,
> Honduras and South Africa.
> 
> -------------------------
> Fair Use Notice
> This site contains copyrighted material the use of
> which has not always been specifically authorized by
> the copyright owner. We are making such material
> available in our efforts to advance understanding of
> environmental, political, human rights, economic,
> democracy, scientific, and social justice issues,
> etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any
> such copyrighted material as provided for in section
> 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with
> Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this
> site is distributed without profit to those who have
> expressed a prior interest in receiving the included
> information for research and educational purposes.
> (See:
> http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml.) If
> > 



       
____________________________________________________________________________________
Take the Internet to Go: Yahoo!Go puts the Internet in your pocket: mail, news, photos & more. 
http://mobile.yahoo.com/go?refer=1GNXIC