From Correspondents in London
May 30: NORWAY is the most peaceful country in the world and Iraq the least, according to a study launched today.
New Zealand ranks second and Australia is 25th on the list, which notably puts Japan near the top and Russia and Israel close to the bottom.
The Global Peace Index, published a week before a Group of Eight (G8) summit in Germany, rates 121 countries from Algeria to Zimbabwe on factors including levels of violence, organised crime and military expenditure.
While most European countries including Britain rank in the top, more peaceful, half of the league table, the US is nearer the bottom in 96th place, while Russia is fifth from last on 118th.
“This is a wake-up call for leaders around the globe,” said Steve Killelea, who commissioned the study from the Economist Intelligence Unit, which is linked to the news weekly The Economist.
“Countries like Japan and Germany can give hope and optimism to countries further down the Index that there can be light at the end of what may seem at the moment like a very dark tunnel,” he said.
The index is backed by international figures including the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former US president Jimmy Carter and US economist Joseph Stiglitz, all winners of the Nobel peace prize. It is also supported by Queen Noor of Jordan.
Overall the study found that small, stable countries which are part of regional blocs such as the 27-nation European Union are most likely to be more peaceful.
Income and education are crucial in promoting peace, it said.
“I believe there is a link between the peacefulness and the wealth of nations and therefore business has a key role to play in peace,” said Mr Killelea.
The Dalai Lama, the Tibetan Buddhist leader who fled China after an aborted uprising in 1959, said the launch of the Index could be a useful tool for policymakers.
“Compiling and maintaining an Index of which countries are the most peaceful and publishing the results will undoubtedly make the factors and qualities that contribute to that status better known, and will encourage people to foster them in their own countries,” he said.
