Global Peace Index 2008: Azerbaijan one of most aggressive countries in the world

PanARMENIAN.Net - Most countries in the world are performing better against key measures of peacefulness compared with last year, according to the latest rankings of the Global Peace Index(GPI), now in its second year.



This year the Index has been expanded to rank 140 countries - from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe - according to how peaceful they are, both domestically and how they interact with the outside world.



Azerbaijan ranks 101, thus entering the list of the most aggressive countries of the world. Baltic states - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - are the most peaceful among the post soviet republics, the Financial Times reports.



The Index is constructed from 24 indicators of external and internal measures of peace including UN deployments overseas and levels of violent crime.



Iceland, making its first appearance in the Index, tops the rankings. Countries in Scandinavia have also emerged as among the most peaceful countries on the planet with Denmark (2) and Norway (3) scoring very highly. New Zealand (4) and Japan (5) - the only member of the G8 in the top ten - complete the highest ranked. The United States held virtually steady at number 97, dropping one slot from last year's rank of 96.



But other nations, including Angola (110), Indonesia (68) and India (107), have demonstrated the greatest improvements compared to last year's Index.



Based on a direct comparison of the 121 countries measured in the GPI 2007 to GPI 2008, a majority of the individual indicators have seen slight improvements. On average, scores for level of organized conflict (internal) and violent crime, political instability and potential for terrorist acts have all improved marginally. In contrast, the world's armed services have grown on average per country, as has the sophistication of its weaponry.



Other key findings: small, stable and democratic countries are the most peaceful - 16 of the top 20 are western or central European democracies; the G8 fared very differently: Japan (5), Canada (11), Germany (14), Italy (28), France (36), UK (49), United States (97), Russia (131); Iraq is the lowest ranked country on the Index (140).