Avon,
That was kinda a joke. I always figure that at link to LGF is going to cause excitement. One of the commenters LGF pointed out some of the folks who put this "study" on consider their dearest
allies, this was slightly instructive.
Some of my favorite comments at the bottom of the LGF post are/were:
"Well that certainly explains why so many people are fleeing the US for Cuba, China, Vietnam, and Libya. At this rate in a few years they'll be no one left in America."
"I like to look at that peace map when I'm stoned. It kind of looks like a patchwork quile of peace, or like a tapestry man. It's just so beautiful."
"I think we should bomb all those countries that ranked higher than us, to eliminate the "Peace Gap".
"It's because of all our monster trucks."
I had course in statistics once, using excel and maps and such, called "Quantitative Analysis in International Affairs" and it was just like this little project that this org. did. In fact, the methodolgy is exactly the same. You punch a bunch of numbers in to criteria you come up with yourself, kinda like the EIU, which is the basis of much of this report.
You will notice on
page five a professor from one of my alma matter where I had this course.
The criteria itself is very interesting. Tells you a great deal about the agenda. Where % of GDP and defense spending, as well as 'trust of others' is criteria, a certain agenda becomes apparent.