Author: Gabriella Hold
Source: The Prague Post

The Czech Republic has been ranked the 12th most peaceful country in the world, with New Zealand taking the top spot for the second year in a row, according to the 2010 Global Peace Index.

The Czech Republic also ranked second among Central and East European countries, narrowly beaten by Slovenia, but ahead of Hungary, Poland and Slovakia.

The index, produced by the Sydney-based Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), ranks countries according to 23 measures of internal and external peacefulness including the level of domestic organized crime, the likelihood of violent demonstrations, military expenditure as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) and funding for UN peacekeeping missions.

It found that overall worldwide peacefulness declined for the year due to a 5 percent increase in homicides, more violent demonstrations and a greater fear of crime.

The Czech Republic scored highly on criteria such as the number of deaths from internally organized conflict, the number of homicides and the level of perceived criminality in society. It also benefited from improved political stability, low potential for terrorist acts, imports of major conventional weapons and respect for human rights.

“The Czech Republic scored pretty well,” IEP Chairman Steve Killelea told The Prague Post.

“Interestingly, the three factors that caused the fall in peacefulness this year did not apply to the Czech Republic.”

But it was a poorer score than the 11th place ranking achieved in 2009 due to its ongoing participation in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, and the increase in the jailed population.

The country also scored badly on related indicators in the index such as freedom of the press and perception of corruption.

But Killelea downplayed the fall, noting top countries were very sensitive to small changes.

Overall, Iceland ranked second in the index followed by Japan, Austria and Norway. New Zealand, Austria, Iceland and Japan were the only countries in the top 10 to improve their rank this year.

Meanwhile, Iraq, Somalia and Afghanistan were the least peaceful countries for the second consecutive year. Syria, Georgia, the Philippines, Russia and Cyprus were this year’s biggest fallers.

The IEP says the 2010 data shows an intensification of conflicts and growing instability linked to financial crisis, with several countries seeing sharp increases in homicides, violent demonstrations and fear of crime. Moreover, the increased violence is depriving the global economy of assets, with a 25 percent reduction in global violence estimated to free up $1.8 trillion (37.5 trillion Kč) annually. This would be enough to pay off Greece’s debt, fund the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and meet the EU’s 20-20-20 climate and energy targets.

“The research carried out by the IEP based on four years of data provides a quantifiable demonstration that improving peace can transform the global economy and unleash the wealth needed to tackle debt, fund economic expansion and create a more sustainable environment,” Killelea said.

Western Europe continued to be the most peaceful region, with the majority of the countries ranking in the top 20. Conversely, South Asia was the least peaceful, as a result of increased involvement in conflicts, a rise in deaths from internal conflict and human rights abuses. Year on year, Latin America had the steepest fall in peacefulness due to more internal violence, homicides and increased levels of perceived criminality.