NZ most peaceful nation on Earth
The 2009 Global Peace Index is out, and NZ leads the world!
The top ten is:
- New Zealand
- Denmark
- Norway
- Iceland
- Austria
- Sweden
- Japan
- Canada
- Finland
- Slovenia
Interesting how many of these top ten have violent pasts – Austria and Japan, and Slovenia more recently.
The bottom 10 are:
- Iraq
- Afghanistan
- Somalia
- Israel
- Sudan
- Congo
- Chad
- Pakistan
- Russia
- Zimbabwe
In 2008 NZ was 4th, so an improvement. The authors say:
New Zealand is ranked the nation most at peace of the 144 ranked in the 2009 Global Peace Index. Its rise from 3rd position in 2008 is partly explained by an increase in the score for political stability, following the election of a new coalition government in November 2008. The centre-right National Party has a strong popular mandate and a robust parliamentary majority by New Zealand’s standards, putting the new prime minister, John Key, in a good position to push through his agenda. The rise to first position is also related to the fall of Iceland from the top spot last year, which reflects the deterioration in its indicators of political stability, the likelihood of violent demonstrations and perceived criminality in the wake of the banking collapse that engulfed the economy in September.
They also cite our good relations with Australia. I wonder if another under-arm incident would lower our ranking 🙂