The 2017 Global Peace Index (GPI) was released the other day and has some interesting results, especially in terms of where America is ranked. This is the tenth year that the GPI had been done in its current format as an attempt to measure the relative position of the peacefulness of nations and regions of the world. The GPI uses a complex gauge of economic, social and political factors in its rankings.

The GPI is a brainchild of Steve Killelea, who chairs the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), a global think tank in Sydney. Data for the GPI is collected and organized by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), with the help of peace institutes, think tanks and experts from across the globe.

The top five countries

For the tenth year in a row Iceland is the number one country in the Global Peace Index, having held the spot since 2008, the first year the rankings expended to its current 163 country format. New Zealand is ranked second, the sixth time it has been ranked number two. That country has been in the top five every year of the rankings. Portugal comes in third place, finishing in the top five for the second year in a row after being fifth last year. The country has been in the top 16 every year of the rankings.

Austria is in fourth place, the fifth year in a row that it has been in the top five. Austria has been in the top ten every year since 2009. Rounding out the top five is Denmark, which finished in the top five for the sixth straight year.

Denmark has been in the top ten for eight of the ten rankings. Overall, 93 countries became more peaceful and 68 became less peaceful. Syria finished in last place for the second consecutive year.

Where is America ranked?

America came in at 114th in the Global Peace Index, down eleven spots compared to last year. The United States has Armenia and Rwanda directly in front of it and El Salvador and China directly behind it.

That last time America was ranked this low was 2013, when the country was 118th. American's worst factor is militarization domain, where it is ranked at 159th, only ahead of Syria, North Korea, Russia and Israel.

According to analysts, America is ranked where it is due to internal conflict in the country stemming from the 2016 Presidential Election.

There has also been in an increase in the perception of criminality across the country, as well as rising murder rates in several major cities and several terrorist attacks that have taken place since the last rankings.
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