The word dangerous brings up images of disasters, wars, terrorism, animals – all the unsafe things. And you need to watch your back when you visit these places. No one knows what may happen next. It is mainly the illicit human activities that make a place dangerous. As long as there is no violence, the place is liveable. One would prefer living in Antarctica than Afghanistan.
A yearly report called the Global Peace Index ranks countries in the ascending order of peace, from most peaceful to least peaceful based on various factors like number of hostilities, deaths due to these hostilities, political insecurity, relations with foreign countries, crime levels, likelihood of terrorist activities, nuclear and heavy weapons, etc. This report also includes the economic impact of the conflicts.
The report adds:
Were the world to reduce its expenditure on violence by approximately 50 per cent it could repay the debt of the developing world($4076bn), provide enough money for the European stability mechanism,($900bn) and fund the additional amount required to achieve the annual cost of the Millennium Development Goals.
The report also states that the world has become less peaceful. The following countries rank at the bottom of the Global Peace Index which can be called as the least peaceful or most dangerous.
- Pakistan
Three GPI factors the intensity of internal conflict, terrorist activity and the level of violent crime saw a fall in 2012 compared to 2011. Suicide bombings, terrorist groups and political instability got Pakistan in the danger zone
- Sudan
10.5% population of Sudan consists of refugees and internally displaced people. Crime, terrorist activities and political terror create civil unrest in Sudan. Darfur in Sudan might have seen majority of conflicts.
- Iraq
A dysfunctional government, political terror, corruption, internal conflicts and atrocities from these conflicts make Iraq less peaceful. Iraq has witnessed a marginal rise in military expenditure.
- Syria
Syria has seen a radical drop in peace by 70% since 2008, the biggest ever score decline in the history GPI. The place has also witnessed the highest number of deaths, 72900 people killed due to internal conflicts.
- Somalia
This country has witnessed instability and violence ever since their government collapsed in 1991. The place is now used to terrorist attacks and kidnappings.
- Afghanistan
Caught up in hostility and instability for the past two decades, Afghanistan is the most dangerous place in the world. Two major attacks on the capital city Kabul in2012, fatal suicide attack in Maimana got Afghanistan to the bottom of the list.
