Global Peace index

[Gorduz]

How peaceful is your country?
My biggest suprise was russia.. what's happening over there?

http://www.visionofhumanity.com/rankings/

[Jimbuna]

Not suprised seeing Iraq at the bottom
But where is Afghanistan? :hmm:

[The Avon Lady]

I would like to have seen this organization produce the same map in 1937/8 and see what conclusions they would have drawn from that.

"Britain and France had a choice between war and dishonour. They chose dishonour. They will have war."
- Winston Churchill, addressing Neville Chamberlain in the House of Commons, after the Munich accords, 1938

[Heibges]

Originally Posted by The Avon Lady

I would like to have seen this organization produce the same map in 1937/8 and see what conclusions they would have drawn from that.

"Britain and France had a choice between war and dishonour. They chose dishonour. They will have war."
- Winston Churchill, addressing Neville Chamberlain in the House of Commons, after the Munich accords, 1938

Let's try not to read more into this list than there is.

Israel being listed towards the bottom of the list doesn't mean that Israeli's aren't peaceful, just that on any given day the odds of something bad happening to you is greater compared to say Norway. Is this really a big surprise?

What would be interesting is to see where Germany would be on the list in 1928 and 1938? There were a lot of folks in the United States that looked on the "peaceful" Nazi society with envy (Walt Disney, Henry Ford, etc)

[The Avon Lady]

Originally Posted by Heibges

Let's try not to read more into this list than there is.

Israel being listed towards the bottom of the list doesn't mean that Israeli's aren't peaceful, just that on any given day the odds of something bad happening to you is greater compared to say Norway. Is this really a big surprise?

What would be interesting is to see where Germany would be on the list in 1928 and 1938? There were a lot of folks in the United States that looked on the "peaceful" Nazi society with envy (Walt Disney, Henry Ford, etc)

What you say is exactly what I meant - 100%!

[CCIP]

Originally Posted by Gorduz

My biggest suprise was russia.. what's happening over there?

You can see the details if you click on the country name. Most of it is written off to internal problems like crime rates, terrorist acts, life expectancy and the 'un-democratization'.

Very accurate reflection. A lot of people don't really see how bad it is in Russia because of the recent economic uplift. Economic uplift isn't everything.

[Heibges]

Originally Posted by CCIP

You can see the details if you click on the country name. Most of it is written off to internal problems like crime rates, terrorist acts, life expectancy and the 'un-democratization'.

Very accurate reflection. A lot of people don't really see how bad it is in Russia because of the recent economic uplift. Economic uplift isn't everything.

It seems like the only thing that happened in Russia since the end of the Sovet Government is a few folks got very very very very rich. Everyone else is taking it in the rear.

One of the reasons Western companies are scared to invest in Russia, is that even though they have democracy, the "rule of law" doen not seem to exist.

Slightly OT: There was huge scandal recently with Russian Billionaries importing prostitutes into France from Russia through Switzerland for their own private use.

[The Avon Lady]

Originally Posted by CCIP

You can see the details if you click on the country name. Most of it is written off to internal problems like crime rates, terrorist acts, life expectancy and the 'un-democratization'.

Very accurate reflection. A lot of people don't really see how bad it is in Russia because of the recent economic uplift. Economic uplift isn't everything.

Putin's temper tantrum.

[fatty]

Whenever these sorts of lists are published I am always surprised to see how consistently well "crumbling old socialist Europe" places :p

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by fatty

Whenever these sorts of lists are published I am always surprised to see how consistently well "crumbling old socialist Europe" places :p

Something like that was on my mind, too.

[Heibges]

Originally Posted by The Avon Lady

Putin's temper tantrum.

I was standing at a bus stop talking to this old man the other night. He was a Russian Jew who had emigrated to the United States in the late 1980's. He said he left Russia because although his internal passport said Russian, his nose said Jew and he was always getting beaten up. Still, he hated Gorbachev for making Russia weak, thought Yeltsin was a drunken pig, a loved Putin for trying to make Russia strong again.

[CCIP]

I'm pretty sure the only people who liked Gorbachev and Yeltsin are the few that benefitted under them (e.g. 'oligarchs', organized crime, the church) and of course the West :hmm: Noone should be surprised by Putin's relative popularity at home.

[Heibges]

You don't think that Gorbachev had the best interests of the Russian people at heart?

[CCIP]

Originally Posted by Heibges

You don't think that Gorbachev had the best interests of the Russian people at heart?

Oh, I do. I think Gorbachev had the best of intentions, and you know what they say about good intentions... I don't think they justify what he brought the country to. It's the same (perhaps not as extreme) as Nicholas II - I've no doubt he wanted the best for everyone, but screwing everything up to that extent is, to most people, not something easily forgivable.

He was an idealist; Putin is a pragmatic. I'm sure Gorbachev had much better intentions than Putin ever will, but Putin has the foresight and means that Gorbi could only dream of.

[Heibges]

Originally Posted by CCIP

Oh, I do. I think Gorbachev had the best of intentions, and you know what they say about good intentions... I don't think they justify what he brought the country to. It's the same (perhaps not as extreme) as Nicholas II - I've no doubt he wanted the best for everyone, but screwing everything up to that extent is, to most people, not something easily forgivable.

He was an idealist; Putin is a pragmatic. I'm sure Gorbachev had much better intentions than Putin ever will, but Putin has the foresight and means that Gorbi could only dream of.

You may appreciate this joke.

A retired CIA Agent John and a retired KGB Agent Ivan are having drinks at an Association of Retired Intelligence Officers party. They get into a good natured discussion of who pulled off the best intelligence coups.

John starts with the CIA tunneling under the Berlin Wall to tap phones in East Germany.

Ivan brings up stealing the plans to the Hydrogen Bomb.

John brings up keeping the Communists out of Italy after WWII.

Ivan brings up replacing Batista with Castro.

John brings up the toppling of Allende.

Ivan silences John with John Walker, Aldrige Ames, and Robert Hanssen.

John thinks for a minute and says, "there was one CIA project that was so secret, and so harmful to the Soviet Union, that even now a I can't tell you what it is, but if you were to guess I could acknowledge you are right.

Ivan thinks for several minutes, and then replies.....Gos Agroprom