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Most of the reporting on the newly released Global Peace Index focus on how poorly the United States performed: 96th out of 121 nations. There are some nations that got an even worse ranking in the Global Peace Index than the USA, however. For citizens of the USA, three of those nations in particular are worthy of note.

These dramatically unpeaceful nations deserve special attention because they have an especially close relationship with the government of the United States, receiving weapons, funds, and dangerous technology. In our growing list of reasons to elect a progressive President in 2008, the unpeaceful ranking of each one of these three nations merits its own reason to support a progressive candidate for President.

1. India ranked 109th out of 121. We tend to think of India as the nation of Mohandas K. Gandhi, but the truth is a lot less pretty. India ranks in the Global Peace Index as even less peaceful than the brutal dictatorship of Myanmar. India has recently sent military supplies to Iran, and has built its own arsenal of nuclear weapons. In spite of the aggressive stance taken by India, the American White House and Congress recently agreed to send India nuclear technology and supplies that can be used to create more nuclear weapons.

2. Israel is ranked in the Global Peace Index as 119th out of 121 nations. The reasons are many. Some of Israel’s military activities take part as legitimate self-defense, but many of its activities are agressive and reckless far beyond the bounds of legitimate response to the aggression of its foes. The United States has offered uncritical support of Israel’s militant behavior. Progressives don’t call for all American support for Israel to end, but they do call for an appropriate, selective reduction in American support for Israel in order to pressure the Israeli government to abandon its provocative and destabilizing tactics.

3. Iraq is ranked as the least peaceful nation of all the nations listed on the Global Peace Index. Some of the responsibility for the violence in Iraq lays at the feet of insurgents and non-government militia. However, the current bloodshed throughout Iraq was provoked by the American invasion and occupation, and is perpetuated by American support for elements in Iraq that are known to engage in genocidal violence.

(Sources: Global Peace Index, 2007, Congressman Ed Markey, November 14, 2006; Huffington Post, March 3, 2006)