As one humorist once said “the squeaky wheel gets the grease” and so it has been since time immemorial. Complain and vociferate in the public space and you will get the attention that you need, or at least crave. The grease gets thrown onto the axel in lashings. But, sit silently in the back seat and be driven along and nobody will look over their shoulder and see you slumped in the back of the car. But, that doesn’t mean to say that you aren’t there on that back bench somewhere. Just because you aren’t squeaking, doesn’t mean to say that you don’t get from point A to point B. The others just don’t notice that you are there. The quietest ones are usually the safest anyhow, aren’t they? The ones that will look after you when all hell breaks loose.
Nobody can deny that the chances of war are increasing in the world.
Any amount of theory in international relations about how when a country gets a McDonald’s fast-food restaurant, then they will no longer wage war because they will be too busy worry about the burgers that fill their stomachs (the Golden Arches Theory) will only go down the tubes and get smacked in the face by Ronald McDonald. History has a habit of creating repetition. Bis repetita placent or ‘those things that please just get asked for again and again’. We might well look around and so the growing number of repetitions in history that were announcements of the impending outbreak of World War II that are present today in the modern world in which we live. The unlikely alliances in the world, the invasions and annexing [18] of certain lands, the internal ethnic conflicts that are coming to boiling point not to add the burning fuel to the fire of the financial crisis that has reduced some to cinders.
So, when war breaks out, where should we go? According to the Global Peace [19] Index from the Institute of Economics and Peace, the places to be when war does finally happen would be the following states.
Safest Places in the World
The ten highest ranking countries are all relatively small democracies that make few waves in the world.
10. Norway
09. Belgium
08. Japan
07. Canada
06. Finland
05. Switzerland
04. New Zealand
03. Austria
02. Denmark
01. Iceland
Is Iceland the top country in the world simple because it has a small population? There are 325,000 people in the country and as such it’s far less likely to have crime than with big populations. Or is it because the Icelandic people have one of the world’s oldest democracies with the parliament being established as early as the 10th century in the country? The Althing was one of the first systems of representative democracy with elected officials representing the common people. Some have even suggested that Iceland is peaceful because it has great ethnic similarity, with a very small proportion of people coming from non-Icelandic heritages (4-6% of the country). Others might believe that diversity brings strength. Is it because health care there is free and university and schooling are also free and provided for by the state? Their basic needs met, they have little cause to find conflict with others, perhaps.
Who knows why Iceland is the most peaceful country. There are many suggestions that are made, whether they be the real reasons or not.
Seven of the world’s top most-peaceful countries are in Europe. There are the usual ones that are there at the top. The Danes [20] and the Finnish, the Swiss and the Norwegians. Say what you will but every time there’s and index published they are always at the top of the list, aren’t they? But, these are the countries that sit quietly in the back seat driving along. They don’t squeak and they certainly don’t need greasing up like the others do. There’s a link there somewhere between greasing someone’s axel and somehow going down the slippery wrong road of corruption and instability.
Global Peace
The Global Peace Index has been produced now for 8 years and there are 162 countries in the ranking (standing for 99.6% of the world population). So, apparently this is the most peaceful century in the history of mankind and yet there are growing signs that the dangerous are rearing their ugly heads. Where there are no dangers there are the bastardized twin brothers of analysis which are conspiracy thinking and rumor. Where proof lacks, the twins prevail and ensure that what wasn’t happening will.
· The index looks at three broad themes which are :
1. Level of safety and security in a society.
2. Extent of domestic and international conflict.
3. Degree of militarization of the country.
There are 22 indicators that are both quantitative and qualitative.
· Out of the 162 countries there has been deterioration in the level of peace in countries for 111 of them since 2008.
· Not surprising really since our society was founded on the development of trade, inter-locking us into a global market to prevent putting our own prosperity into danger by making it woven into the fabric of others’ economies.
· But, since the free-for-all fight that ensued after the fall of the financial markets, that has somewhat changed. Since 2008, it has been every man for himself.
· 500 million people are currently living in countries that are considered to be at risk of instability and possible theatres of conflict.
· 200 million of those people are considered to be below the poverty line in their country intrinsically linking conflict and instability with levels of wealth.
· The countries that are most at risk of falling into violence and instability today are:
1. Zambia
2. Haiti
3. Argentina
4. Chad
5. Bosnia & Herzegovina
6. Nepal
7. Burundi
8. Georgia
9. Liberia
10. Qatar
· But, the most violent countries in the world are the following 11 countries in which 85% of all terrorist activity in the world is taking place today (despite what the local media might be trying to make you think, scaremongering and panic-selling to the masses):
1. Syria
2. Afghanistan
3. South Sudan
4. Iraq
5. Somalia
6. Sudan
7. C.A.R.
8. D.R. Congo
9. Pakistan
10. N. Korea [21]
11. Russia
· You are more likely to have a homicide rate in those countries that are 12 times the average in peaceful countries.
· The Global Economic Impact of violence has been estimated to stand at US$1,350 per person in the world or a total of US$9.8 trillion (2013).
· Africa has a combined GDP of less than 50% of that figure that impacts the world.
· The total figure also represents 11.3% of global Gross Domestic Product.
· There is a rise in the number of internal and domestic conflicts in states and violence is no longer just between states but also from within.
· Overall only 4 indicators changed for the better with less money being spent in the world on the military [22] (as a percentage of GDP) globally and less money being spent on nuclear and heavy weapons as well as the armed forces in the world.
· But, the other criteria all seemed to do worse than in previous years and they included:
1. Terrorist activity
2. Homicide rate
3. Likelihood of violent demonstrations
4. Violent crime
5. Incarceration rate
6. Political instability and access to small arms, amongst others.
· It is not surprising that South Sudan saw the largest fall between 2013 and 2014 in the ranking of Global Peace it and became the country that suffered the most severe deterioration. It now stands at 160th place in the ranking. It fell by 16 places.
· Egypt fell by 31 places and ended up in 143rd position in the world rankings.
Will the figures above remain just figures and rankings? They are all well and good just as long as they have an impact. The trend in the figures has been getting worse over the past 8 years in which the Global Peace Index has been carrying out the study so it would seem that the figures are destined to be relegated to the back office of the corridors of power. Why would we want world peace, anyhow? For a moment it might just bring the poor out of poverty and provide them with the same living standards as the rest of the world. That would be no good, would it? How would we recognize the rich as being overly rich if they didn’t have the poor to gauge themselves by it? It seems that it would be far better to maintain them in instability and violence and that way the old adage stands very true of seeing your enemies fighting amongst themselves in their own back yards means that they don’t try to climb over your fence and get into your little oasis.
So where does the USA stand?
· The USA is 101 out of 162 in the world rankings for the World Peace Index.
· That means that it comes in just after Turkmenistan, Armenia, Bangladesh and even Haiti and Benin. It’s just one rank ahead of Angola. No comment.
· It is 30th place in world rankings for the Terrorism Index.
Do you think the USA is the 101th most peaceful country in the world out of 162?
[17]