Publication Date：05/26/2011
Source： Taiwan Today
By Elaine Hou
Taiwan has moved up eight spots to No. 27 in the latest annual Global Peace Index, released May 25 in Washington by the Institute for Economics and Peace.
It was the first time that Taiwan has made it to the world’s top 30 since the GPI was first released in 2007.
According to the IEP, the 2011 GPI gauges ongoing domestic and international conflict, safety and security in society and militarization in 153 countries and territories by taking into account 23 separate indicators. Each nation is scored on a scale of 1 to 5 for each indicator, with 1 representing most peaceful.
With an overall score of 1.638, Taiwan was ranked fourth best in Asia, after Japan, Malaysia and Singapore, which received scores of 1.287, 1.467 and 1.585, respectively.
The top three countries were Iceland, New Zealand and Japan. Mainland China came in at No. 80, while the U.S. was ranked No. 82. Somalia was judged the world’s least peaceful nation.
The index also finds the world less peaceful for the third consecutive year. This results from an increased threat of terrorist attacks and a greater likelihood of violent demonstrations, the IEP said.
Founded in 2007, the IEP is dedicated to building a greater understanding of the interrelationships among business, peace and economics. With offices in Sydney and New York, it is best known for producing the GPI report, which it says “the world’s leading measure of peace,” as a valued resource for major organizations and governments in the world. (HZW)
