WASHINGTON, D.C. - According to the 2012 Global Peace Index (GPI) released today, the two leading factors making the world more peaceful in 2012, were improvements in the Political Terror Scale and gains in several indicators of militarization arising from austerity-driven defense cuts and improved relations between neighboring states. This reverses two consecutive years where the GPI has shown a decline in global peace. The indicators that witnessed the most deterioration were perceived criminality in society, likelihood of violent demonstration, homicides, violent crime and organized conflict – implying that local civil unrest is replacing conflict between nations.

The U.S. dropped to rank 88th showing that it is being outcompeted by countries that are increasing their peace at a faster pace and, in the process, ultimately unlocking trapped efficiencies within their economies. The U.S. has seen its peacefulness increase slightly this year thanks to a reduction in the percentage of its jailed population, however, larger improvements in other countries led the country to slide in the Index. The U.S. continues to underperform on a number of indicators such as the percentage of its population in jail, the number of deaths from conflict and the number of heavy weapons.

The GPI is the world's leading measure of global peacefulness produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP). It gauges ongoing domestic and international conflict, safety and security in society, and militarization in 158 countries by taking into account 23 separate indicators. lire la suite

Consultez la source sur Veille info tourisme: Le monde sera légèrement plus paisible en 2012 selon le Global Peace Index - World slightly more peaceful in 2012