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Iceland tops peace index

London: Iceland is the world’s most peaceful country, according to an index measuring internal and external turmoil.

While Iraq, Somalia and Sudan come last, the Global Peace Index survey, published on Tuesday, suggests the world is a marginally more secure place than a year ago.

Angola, Indonesia and India made the greatest strides away from conflict since the last poll.

Ingibjorg Solrun Gisladottir, Iceland’s Foreign Minister, welcomed her country’s ranking.

“We are very pleased that the index confirms the core values of a small democratic society ... which has never had a military and has effectively practised peace for hundreds of years,” she said. “We can feel that other states also find this of importance and it is in fact a driving force in our first-time candidacy for a non-permanent seat on the UN security council.”

Iceland has the lowest ratio of citizens in jail of the 140 countries surveyed.

Nordic countries again feature at the top of the index, which is compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit from 24 indicators of external and internal measures of peace, including U.N. deployments overseas and levels of violent crime nationally. Denmark and Norway come second and third, followed by New Zealand and Japan, the G8’s sole representative in the top 10.

Small, stable, democratic countries are the most peaceful, according to the index. Economic power is not a guarantee of a high ranking. Of the G8, France came 36th, Britain 49th, the US 97th, and Russia 131st. The index, which was launched under the auspices of the Institute for Economics and Peace thinktank, is endorsed by the Nobel laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Professor Joseph Stiglitz and Professor Muhammad Yunus. It also has the support of tycoons such as Sir Richard Branson and Sir Mark Moody-Stuart.

“On average, scores for level of organised conflict [internal] and violent crime, political instability and potential for terrorist acts have all got marginally better,” the survey said. In contrast, the world’s militaries have grown on average, as has the sophistication of weaponry. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2008

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Iceland tops peace index

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