The world can be a dangerous place.
According to this year's Global Peace Index (GPI), in which think tank Institute for Economics and Peace rates the peacefulness of each country, only 10 nations on earth are completely conflict-free in 2016, and Vietnam is one of them.
In addition to the Southeast Asian nation, the 10th annual GPI named Botswana, Chile, Costa Rica, Japan, Mauritius, Panama, Qatar, Switzerland and Uruguay as conflict-free countries, according to The Independent.
The index was calculated based upon indicators measuring ongoing conflict, militarization and societal safety and security. GPI results showed 2016 was slightly less peaceful than 2015, with 81 countries improving their peacefulness score while conditions in 79 nations worsened. Though Vietnam is one of the only nations to avoid conflict in 2016, its militarization and society and security rankings put the country at 59 out of 162 countries in terms of overall peacefulness.
The most troubling news, however, concerns what researchers call the “peace inequality gap”: peaceful nations seem to be getting more peaceful, while countries embroiled in conflict are only getting worse. Iceland was named the world's most peaceful country in 2016, while Syria came in last.
[Photo via Vision of Humanity]
