USA, land of violence?

The new Global Peace Index rank US on 96^th, Iraq ranks last

The USA, to many (inside the country, at least) the land of freedom and opportunity, is also a land of violence. According to a study published by the Economist Intelligence Unit – EIU, the renowned think tank associated with The Economist, called the Global Peace Index – GPI, the USA ranks 96^th out of 121 countries in a ranking that combines a number of data to measure the internal and external peace of each nation. Things are not going well to notable US allies as well: Israel ranks 119th, while Colombia and Lebanon, two countries that have been receiving substantial American help (politically and financially) for a while now, rank 116^th and 114^th, respectively.

The study took in consideration things such as number of victims in internal and external conflicts, recent wars in which the countries were involved, military expenditure, relationship with neighboring countries, social tensions among the population and respect to human rights. Some of these categories in particular might have brought down the ranking of certain countries, such as weapons exports, which might explain, at least partially, why France ranks 34^th , the UK, 49^th and China, 60^th.

But what this pioneering study has of revolutionary is its capacity to call attention to issues normally ignored by standard studies (even in the UN) and bring down myths at the same time. As the president of the GPI, said, their goal is to go beyond the “standard” wars and analyze “the texture of peace.” By texture of peace, we could use the definition given by Harriet Fulbright from the Fulbright Center, one of the people to analyze the study before its publishing: “Peace isn’t just the absence of war; it’s the absence of violence.”

That’s exactly why this study matter so much: So far, we’re used to think that peace is only and intrinsically related to two armies (one of them, from our country) facing each other on trenches or launching missiles. But in a world where actual wars are getting scarce, despite the effort from certain countries, violence took a whole new shape and redefined the concept of war. Dozens of American soldiers might be dying every week in Iraq, but the true danger for a regular family in California, for example, is the growth (in numbers and strength) of the white, black, Mexican and Salvadoran gangs in the area, making the streets as unsafe as in a warzone and turning gang brawls into ethnic cleansing. About warzones, people in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, know better than most. Recently, in a confrontation that lasted almost a month, police officers tried (unsuccessfully) to take back a cluster of shantytowns dominated by a gang of drug dealers; cars and pieces of rail tracks were used as barricades, shootings went through nights, and more than 10 people died. Brazil ranked 83^th, behind Syria, Jordan and Bosnia – mostly for its overwhelming urban violence.

This way, this statistic might help bringing down myths that, willingly or not, help perpetuate violence for the lack of serious action by the authorities and pressure by the people. In Brazil, for example, people have a general notion that it can’t get more peaceful than it already is – the last war Brazil was seriously involved into happened more than a 100 years ago. Maybe this ranking will make people and authorities see the country’s violence problem as a civil war, and act accordingly. Likewise, in the UK people might see the 49^th place as and indicator of what the Iraq war, along with heavy arms production and exports and social segregation towards immigrants can do, and call for action. The same goes for France, among the top 5 weapons producers in the world, and home of an increasingly anti-immigrant population.

Not surprisingly, though, the countries on the top of the list were the same as usual. Norway, used to leadership in most positive rankings, also ranked 1^st in the GPI, followed by New Zealand and Denmark. A relative surprise was Ireland (which was drowned in civil war not too long ago), ranked 4^th. Other interesting ranking were Japan (5^th) and Germany (12^th). Not bad for two of the responsible for the biggest carnage in history.

However, there’s no place in the world in which this study could have a more devastating effect than in the US. A 96^th place is a dreadful shame from which there’s absolutely no chance of escaping. And it’s not all about the Iraq war: The US is, by far, the biggest arms producer in the world; it has a tradition of investing abusive amounts of money on the military, even before 9/11; it has the largest prison inmate population in the world and, for a developed country, it has a ridiculously high level of homicide. Violence is so embedded in the US, that it became part of its pop culture, that in a country that regularly makes headlines for being overly conservative with movies, music and TV shows.

This study could be a real fire starter for the American society to see where it’s driving itself to; however, it got a surprisingly small coverage on the media. An advanced search on the Google News Engine gives back no mentions from any of the American media giants – I thought I misspelled “Global Peace Index.” After going on each one of the majors’ websites, I could find nothing but tiny pieces mentioning the US ranking, and that only after a search; there was nothing close to the subject on the main pages. Maybe it’s an effect of having violence as a part of daily life in America: It gives the impression that certain people in the US would take the 86^th place as a compliment.

Another interesting aspect of the ranking was to see that, while some renowned enemies of the US rank at least as low as their archenemy, some other notable “threats,” as regarded by American people and government, rank considerably better than America. Libya and Cuba, two historical rivals of the US, rank 58^th and 59th, respectively. China, a country that has been attracting some attention in the US regarding the buildup of its army and the eternal brawl with Taiwan, comes right after, in 60^th place.

For the countries of relevant Arab population, on the wrong side of president Bush’s “clash of civilizations,” some of them are doing quite well without the model democracy the Bush administration is trying to implement in the Middle East and northern Africa. Oman ranks 22^nd, the best among countries with an Arab majority, followed by Qatar (30^th), United Arab Emirates (38^th), Tunisia (39^th), Kuwait (46^th), Morocco (48^th), Jordan (63^rd), Egypt (73^rd), Syria (77^th) and even Saudi Arabia (90^th). Most of these countries are theocracies, some quite rigorous, such as Syria and Saudi Arabia. They might still be countries where human rights are respected, or where women are free and respected, but the fact that both are less violent than the US must mean that something is deeply wrong with the American way of life as we know it.

However, for the American defense, at least some of its rivals are not doing well either. Iran, the talk of the moment when it comes to American homeland security, comes right after the US, at 97^th place. Venezuela ranks 102^nd and Russia ranks 118^th . North Korea and Afghanistan, for not having reliable data, weren’t included in the ranking – so did Haiti, for the same reason. They can also argument that, for the media’s sake, Iran is also not an example. The story on the Iranian IRNA – Islamic Republic News Agency makes no mention whatsoever to Iran nor the US and their respective positions on the ranking. Another news website from the country simply says that the US actually ranked lower than Iran on its title, correcting it later on the story.

Media manipulation apart, this study might be one of the best news to have come up nowadays. Presenting nothing more than raw data (most of it was already available) and being analyzed by a panel of notables before going to press, it’s an elegant slap in the face of those who perpetrate lies in order to mask the grim reality of their societies. The problem is that many, if not most of the governmental authorities will do just like American and Iranian media and try to play down its relevance, and keep it away from the people’s sights. But the GPI’s intention is to make it an annual list in the near future, with more countries as part of it. As the index gains importance, countries might start taking it as seriously as it should be taken, maybe even guiding their policies by it, like it’s done nowadays with the Human Development Index or the GDP. As Steve Killelea, the man behind GPI, said when asked about Japan, Germany and Ireland: “(…) so the lesson is that nations can change.”