Turan Information Agency, Azerbaijani Opposition Press
June 7, 2018 Thursday


Azerbaijan is included in the category of less peace-loving countries
of the world

by Turan IA


On June 6, the Institute of Economics and Peace published the "Global
Index of the World-2018" (GPI). This year, a large-scale study covered
163 states of the world. The report provides a comprehensive analysis
of trends based on available data on security and law and order,
armaments, economic parameters.

At ranking of the countries 23 indicators in three various categories
- "safety in a society", "ongoing conflicts" and "militarization" were
taken into account. In the first category, in particular, attention
was paid to the level of murders, the number of prisoners, the number
of policemen and the perception of crime, in the category of
"militarization", the number of servicemen, armament expenditures in
relation to GDP and arms exports were considered.

The report GPI 2018 indicated that over the past year the level of
peace in the world has worsened by 0.27% and the negative process
continues for the fourth year in a row. The reason for this is tension
and aggression in society, conflicts and crises that remain
unresolved. At the same time, in 92 countries the situation worsened,
in 71 - it improved.

The list of the most peaceful states ("very high" rating) includes
Iceland, New Zealand, Austria, Portugal, Denmark, Canada, Czech
Republic, Singapore, Japan, Ireland. They are followed by Slovenia,
Switzerland, Australia. Germany, as in 2017, was in the 17th position,
losing also to Sweden, Finland and Norway 
(https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__visionofhumanity.org&d=DwIBaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=EEnH2-qsgwQfzBJmldSBgI9rQtLe8plTRqC72G7Sqn8&s=00_ox7bWL8DOK6rGtspz6s-zHQLMdkds_K6wt-WAcUY&e=
/app/uploads/2018/06/Global-Peace-Index-2018-2.pdf ).

In the current ranking, Azerbaijan ranked 132nd, neighboring with Iran
(131st place) and Bahrain (130th place), having entered the category
of less peaceful countries ("low" rating). This suggests that the
criminal situation in the country is not prosperous, the number of
prisoners is growing, stability is not ensured at the proper level.
The negative role is played by the economic crisis, social tension,
and the expenses for the army are increasing.

According to the given parameters, the situation in neighboring
Armenia is far from normal, but in the GPI 2018 rating it ranked the
120th place with the USA (121st), having entered the category of
countries more peaceful compared to Azerbaijan ("average" rating). By
the way, Belarus (101st position), Georgia (102nd) and almost all
Central Asian republics received such an assessment. But Moldova
(64th) and Kazakhstan (70th place) received a "high" rating.

Worse things are in Russia, which entered the top ten least-favored
countries, ranking 154th in this ranking. Slightly ahead are Pakistan
(151st place), Ukraine (152nd) and Sudan (153rd). At the same time
over the past year, Russia has been included the list on one line,
Ukraine has risen to two positions; but an even less favorable
situation has developed in nine countries - the Central African
Republic, the Congo, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, Iraq, Southern Sudan,
Afghanistan and Syria.

The authors of the study note that Germany, the United States, China,
France and Russia are the largest arms exporters. These states account
for 75% of all exported weapons in the world. But at the same time,
there is a tendency to reduce the amount of weapons. "Over the past
ten years, 104 countries have reduced armament costs in relation to
GDP, 115 countries have reduced the number of their armies," reads the
GPI report.