[Ed. – Somalia is ahead of us.]
The planet is not a peaceful place, and the U.S. no longer ranks in the top 100 most peaceful nations. It stands at No. 101, according to the annual Global Peace Index, a complex analysis that quantifies the relative peacefulness of 162 nations.
Released Wednesday, the eighth annual assessment is data-driven and measures such things as internal crime statistics, political forces, refugee activity, population trends and other factors — including terrorism, the number of homicides and economic conditions.
The most peaceful spot? Iceland, followed by Denmark and Austria.
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The three least peaceful countries are South Sudan, Afghanistan and Syria, at the very bottom of the list.
Money is a key factor. The index affixes a price on the absence of peace, noting that it cost $9.46 trillion worldwide to “contain and deal with the consequences of global violence.”
And Americans pay their share.
“The economic impact of containing the levels of violence cost the U.S. economy $1.7 trillion, or more than 10 percent of the GDP in 2013, translating to more than $5,455 per U.S. citizen,” the index stated.
