Severe Indictment Of U.S. Foreign Policy
By César Chelala
06/05/07 -- "ICH" -- -- New York -- -- According to the just released Global Peace Index, created by The Economist Intelligence Unit, the U.S. is among the least peaceful nations in the world. And Russia is even less so, a severe condemnation for these two powerful countries. This serious indictment shows the need to reassess policies and return to the rule of international law if the goal for a more peaceful world is to be achieved.
The US ranked 96 out of 121 nations considered, worse than Yemen and slightly better than Iran, Honduras and South Africa. As a comparison, Japan ranked 5th, and three Scandinavian countries (Norway, Denmark and Sweden) ranked among the seven most peaceful countries in the world. Fifteen of the top most peaceful nations are in Western Europe, in countries with democratic values and good standard of living.
The index was based in 24 different indicators which measured peace inside and outside a country. The external indicators included the number of wars a country was involved in the last five years, how much money was earned in arms sales, how many soldiers were killed overseas, and defense spending.
A 2005 report by the World Policy Institute states that most of the U.S.’ arms sales to developing countries go to governments that the U.S. State Department qualifies as undemocratic, such as Pakistan, Angola and Saudi Arabia. Presently, U.S. military expenditures equal those of the next 25 countries put together. According to the Stockholm Peace Research Institute, military global spending in 2004 was over $1 trillion. Of that amount, almost 47 percent was spent by the U.S.
Domestic indicators included the number of people in prisons, relations with other countries, level of distrust in other citizens and number of violent crimes. The results were then reviewed by a panel of experts, who tried to find out the qualities that lead to a more peaceful environment.
The U.S., which occupied the 96th place, was just ahead of Iran, classified in the 97th place but behind Syria, which was in the 77 place. Russia and Israel occupied the 118th and 119th place respectively. U.S. involvement in Iraq and its doctrine of preemptive war, essentially flaunting international law, contributed to the U.S.’s poor showing. It studied 121 countries, from Algiers to Zimbabwe and it was released less than one week before the G8 leaders gather in Germany to discuss issues of global concern.
Almost at the same as the release of the Index rating, Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, declared to the BBC, “I wake up every morning and see 100 Iraqis innocent civilians are dying. I have no brief other than to make sure we don’t go into another war or that we go crazy killing each other. You do not want to give additional argument to new crazies who say ‘let’s go and bomb Iran.’”
The survey is meant to inform governments, international organizations, non-governmental organizations and the general public of the countries’ efforts to promote peace. It also intends to be a wake-up call for political leaders who have been reluctant to adopt policies that promote peace.
The results of the Index confirm a previous study carried out by several newspapers around the world, including the Guardian in Britain, Haaretz in Israel, La Presse and Toronto Star in Canada and Reforma in Mexico. The study found that 62% of Canadians and 57% of Mexicans believe that the world has become more dangerous because of U.S. policies.
That study also showed the British voters considered President George Bush as a greater danger to peace than either the North Korean leader Kim Jong-il or even the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. It is a paradoxical finding that countries that were called part of an “axis of evil” are considered less dangerous to world peace than the U.S. itself. While 87% of British voters in that study considered that Osama bin Laden is a great or moderate threat to peace, 75% think the same of President George Bush.
The Global Index is the first study to rank countries according to their level of peacefulness, and to analyze the conditions that contribute to a more peaceful world.
The Index found that peace is correlated to indicators such as income, schooling and level of regional integration, and that peaceful countries have high levels of transparency of government proceedings and low levels of corruption.
That the U.S. -and the United Kingdom, ranked 49th- are so poorly ranked should be a significant cause of concern. It shows that the Iraq adventure has seriously damaged both countries’ reputation, one that will take a serious effort to redress, and has become a significant cause of world instability.
06/05/07 -- "ICH" -- -- New York -- -- According to the just released Global Peace Index, created by The Economist Intelligence Unit, the U.S. is among the least peaceful nations in the world. And Russia is even less so, a severe condemnation for these two powerful countries. This serious indictment shows the need to reassess policies and return to the rule of international law if the goal for a more peaceful world is to be achieved.
The US ranked 96 out of 121 nations considered, worse than Yemen and slightly better than Iran, Honduras and South Africa. As a comparison, Japan ranked 5th, and three Scandinavian countries (Norway, Denmark and Sweden) ranked among the seven most peaceful countries in the world. Fifteen of the top most peaceful nations are in Western Europe, in countries with democratic values and good standard of living.
The index was based in 24 different indicators which measured peace inside and outside a country. The external indicators included the number of wars a country was involved in the last five years, how much money was earned in arms sales, how many soldiers were killed overseas, and defense spending.
A 2005 report by the World Policy Institute states that most of the U.S.’ arms sales to developing countries go to governments that the U.S. State Department qualifies as undemocratic, such as Pakistan, Angola and Saudi Arabia. Presently, U.S. military expenditures equal those of the next 25 countries put together. According to the Stockholm Peace Research Institute, military global spending in 2004 was over $1 trillion. Of that amount, almost 47 percent was spent by the U.S.
Domestic indicators included the number of people in prisons, relations with other countries, level of distrust in other citizens and number of violent crimes. The results were then reviewed by a panel of experts, who tried to find out the qualities that lead to a more peaceful environment.
The U.S., which occupied the 96th place, was just ahead of Iran, classified in the 97th place but behind Syria, which was in the 77 place. Russia and Israel occupied the 118th and 119th place respectively. U.S. involvement in Iraq and its doctrine of preemptive war, essentially flaunting international law, contributed to the U.S.’s poor showing. It studied 121 countries, from Algiers to Zimbabwe and it was released less than one week before the G8 leaders gather in Germany to discuss issues of global concern.
Almost at the same as the release of the Index rating, Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, declared to the BBC, “I wake up every morning and see 100 Iraqis innocent civilians are dying. I have no brief other than to make sure we don’t go into another war or that we go crazy killing each other. You do not want to give additional argument to new crazies who say ‘let’s go and bomb Iran.’”
The survey is meant to inform governments, international organizations, non-governmental organizations and the general public of the countries’ efforts to promote peace. It also intends to be a wake-up call for political leaders who have been reluctant to adopt policies that promote peace.
The results of the Index confirm a previous study carried out by several newspapers around the world, including the Guardian in Britain, Haaretz in Israel, La Presse and Toronto Star in Canada and Reforma in Mexico. The study found that 62% of Canadians and 57% of Mexicans believe that the world has become more dangerous because of U.S. policies.
That study also showed the British voters considered President George Bush as a greater danger to peace than either the North Korean leader Kim Jong-il or even the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. It is a paradoxical finding that countries that were called part of an “axis of evil” are considered less dangerous to world peace than the U.S. itself. While 87% of British voters in that study considered that Osama bin Laden is a great or moderate threat to peace, 75% think the same of President George Bush.
The Global Index is the first study to rank countries according to their level of peacefulness, and to analyze the conditions that contribute to a more peaceful world.
The Index found that peace is correlated to indicators such as income, schooling and level of regional integration, and that peaceful countries have high levels of transparency of government proceedings and low levels of corruption.
That the U.S. -and the United Kingdom, ranked 49th- are so poorly ranked should be a significant cause of concern. It shows that the Iraq adventure has seriously damaged both countries’ reputation, one that will take a serious effort to redress, and has become a significant cause of world instability.
César Chelala is a co-winner of an Overseas Press Club of America award for an article on human rights.
posted by Freedom Fighter | 1:12 PM
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