According to indicators from the 2013 Global Peace Index (GPI), a survey conducted by the Australia and US-based Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), the world is not a peaceful place any more. At least... it isn't as peaceful as it was about five years ago.
The GPI index, released on Tuesday, shows that in comparison to 2008, world peace levels have dropped 5%, with a steep rise in the number of homicides around the world and an alarming 110 countries becoming less peaceful than before.
One of the biggest contributors to declining levels of world peace is
war-ravaged Syria, with the country's global index declining by 70%.
10. Belgium
9. Sweden
8.Canada
7.Finland
6. Japan5. Switzerland4. Austria
3. New Zealand
2. Denmark
1. Iceland
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Nation ranks ‘among the least peaceful in world’
The Philippines was among the least peaceful countries in the world (129), the recent survey from Global Peace Index revealed.
According to the Institute for Economics and Peace’s Global Peace Index (GPI) 2013, the world became “less peaceful” compared to how it was five years ago. In the new index, 162 countries around the world were surveyed to determine the levels of securities in the societies, the extent of conflicts and the degree of militarisation in the countries.
Based on their findings, the GPI reported that the level of peace in the world has fallen by 5% since 2008. It added that internal conflicts in countries have risen over the years and it also showed that 110 countries became less peaceful over the years.Iceland, Denmark, New Zealand, Canada, Japan, Austria, Ireland, Slovenia, Finland and Switzerland were the top 10 peaceful countries, the index reported. It explained that Iceland’s political stability, low crime rate and small prison population made it the most peaceful country in the world.
153. Central African Republic
154. North Korea
155. Russia
156. Democratic Republic of Congo
157. Pakistan
158. Sudan
159. Iraq
160. Syria
161. Somalia
162. Afghanistan
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Has The World Turned Less Peaceful?
The world has become a
less peaceful place, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace.
The institute's this year's report reinforces a longer term pattern:
Since 2008 levels of peace have fallen by 5%.
The annual Global Peace Index 2013 report ranks 162
countries by measuring security in society, the extent of conflict and
the degree of militarization, and shows the way world peace has changed
over time.
Citing the report Mona Chalabi writes: The findings are not altogether bleak. While the
number and intensity of internal conflicts has risen in recent years,
hostility between states has fallen. Overall, they found that 110 states
have become less peaceful and that 48 have become more so.
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Credibility At Stake
Singapore has been ranked the 16 most peaceful place ("Republic moves up 7 places as the rest of the world grows more violent" ST 14 June 2013) ).
Same place where a female polytechnic student was slashed repeatedly for refusing to be robbed of her handphone (Thurs June 13).
Same place where a 20 year old full-time national serviceman was set upon with knives in the heart of Orchard Road, and left bleeding from a head wound outside a popular shopping mall (Sat June 15).
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2013 Global Peace Index
