Ireland squeezed out of top 10 in rankings for world peace
Ireland, however, was still 11th place on the index, between Slovenia in ninth and Qatar at 12th. Last year Ireland was sixth on the index, which ranks 153 countries on 23 indicators of peacefulness.
Iceland returned to the top spot as most peaceful country in the world, after dropping in the rankings in 2009 and 2010 because of violent demonstrations linked to the collapse of its financial system.
Unrest caused by economic instability in Europe saw Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal also drop in the rankings this year.
Overall, the study found that the world has become less peaceful for the third year in succession, largely due to the civil unrest and official repression related to the Arab Spring, as well as the continuing threat of terrorism.
The estimated cost to the world economy of war and insecurity is $5 trillion.
The least peaceful place in the world according to the index was Somalia, as Iraq rose off the bottom spot for the first time since 2007 to rank 152nd out of 153. The next three slots in the least peaceful table were taken by Sudan, Afghanistan and North Korea.
The GPI is drawn up by the Australia-based Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), taking into account indicators such as the number of external and internal conflicts under way, war-related deaths, military strength, relations with neighbouring countries, crime, human rights and political instability.
Libya — where Muammar Gaddafi’s attempts to quash protests by violence were met with an international military response — experienced the biggest drop in the rankings, 83 spots to 143. Bahrain fell 51 places to 123 and Egypt dipped 24 places to 73.
Britain was ranked 26th, up from 31st in 2010 and 49th when the GPI was first compiled in 2007. Germany took 15th place, 36th for France and 82nd for the USA.
IEP founder Steve Killelea said a 25% increase in global peacefulness would provide an economic dividend of $2tn a year — enough to prevent the worst effects of climate change, achieve the Millennium Development Goals for the world’s poorest countries, pay off the public debts of Greece, Portugal and Ireland, and address the rebuilding costs from Japan’s earthquake and tsunami.
