World Less Peaceful Than A Decade Ago – Global Peace Index Report

The study assessed global peace through three filters: safety and security in society, the extent of ongoing domestic or international conflict and the degree of militarization. Researchers considered 23 peace indicators to determine scores, including the number of casualties from terrorism and conflicts in that country, the number of murders per capita and the ratio of military spending to gross domestic product. Each indicator was scored on a 5-point scale.

The Middle East and North Africa remained the world’s least peaceful region, and the four most peaceful regions – Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific and South America – all recorded deteriorations. The most unpeaceful countries in the world are Syria, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Iraq and Somalia. Interestingly, all these countries are predominantly Muslim countries.

23 of the 36 European countries lessened in peacefulness due to increased political instability, impact of terrorism and perceptions of criminality. Also, no Nordic countries are more peaceful today than they were in 2008, researchers found.

The U.S. ranked 121st out of 163 in the global assessment, falling from 114th and 103rd in the 2017 and 2016 Global Peace Indexes, respectively. The U.S. joined six other G20 members –Mexico, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, India, Turkey and Russia – in the group of 50 least peaceful countries in the world.