Maybe Singapore can teach the US and North Korea a thing or two about maintaining a peaceful society.
Less than a week to playing host to what could be a groundbreaking summit between two long-held traditional enemies, Singapore has ranked 8th out of 167 countries on its annual Global Peace Index.
The Institute for Economics and Peace, who authored the index, looks at three categories in each country to decide who ranks where: safety and security, domestic and international conflict, and the degree of militarization.
While the report notes that the average level of global peacefulness declined over the past year, Singapore has become more even more peaceful, advancing 13 places from last year’s rank of 21st. In particular, Singapore scored highly in the aspects of societal safety and security.
The crown for the most peaceful country in the world remained with Iceland — a position it has held on to since 2008. On the other end of the spectrum, Syria is deemed the least peaceful country, the same it has been for the past five years.
A handful of neighboring countries saw similar improvements this year — Malaysia ranked 25th, up from 29th place last year while Thailand ranked 113rd, up from 120th place last year. Meanwhile, the regional likes of Indonesia, Cambodia, and Myanmar dropped down in the index.
The US and North Korea on the other hand, have had, well, less success. The US ranked 121st, falling from 114th place last year. North Korea ranks 150th for the third year in a row.
But after a few days imbibing our hospitality and diplomacy during the summit, the two countries are bound to pick up a few tips and improve their scores next year.
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