Where are we?

Where does Pakistan stand in the international line-up? Why tourists don't visit here anymore? Why so many travel advisories? Why words of our leaders weigh so light? As to what is the problem, just look at the Global Peace Index, a study compiled by the weekly Economist's Intelligence Unit and launched on Wednesday.
It gives Pakistan a stunning placement - 115th, only six places away from being the most dangerous country in the world. It stands in the unenviable company of embattled Iraq, cocaine-ridden Columbia, fractured Russia, Israel the rogue state, and strife-torn Sudan. This is not a judgement; make your own conclusions, say the authors of the study.
First of its kind, the study has been financed by Australian IT entrepreneur Steve Killelea and backed by international figures, including Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, President Jimmy Carter, and US economist Joseph Stiglitz, all winners of the Nobel Peace Prize, and Queen Noor of Jordan. Among the top 10 countries that are 'most at peace within and without' are Norway, New Zealand, Denmark, Ireland, Japan, Finland, Sweden, Canada and Austria - in the same order.
In preparing the index two dozen indicators have been factored into the calculations, including what are considered as anti-peace inputs and the drivers that tend to strengthen peace. Among the anti-peace inputs are included easy access to small weapons, like guns and explosive devices, wars fought in the last five years, military expenditure, local corruption, level of respect (or disrespect) for human rights, immigration figures, prison populations and incidence of crime.
The drivers for peace include high level of democracy, women in parliament, transparency in government, education and material well-being. The study is expected to go beyond "crude measurers of war", to systematically exploring the fabric of peace. It would help quantify peacefulness, which, in turn, would "provide a greater understanding of mechanisms that nurture peace to inspire world leaders and governments to further action".
As the world enters the new millennium, peace is not only absence of war, it is also absence of violence. Similarly, peace within a state is of as much concern to other members of international community as peace without. The study also reveals that countries with higher level of democracy, transparent governance, better education and more employment are more peaceful than others.
Peacefulness tends to flourish where countries are interlinked in terms of regional groupings. If the United States appears low, at 96, it is because of its war in Iraq and Afghanistan, huge defence spending and packed to capacity prisons. Of course, the Global Peace Index offers no advice, but it does convey in no uncertain terms that peace is a sum total of many factors which the leaders and the governments can always quantify and press into service of state and people.
That message is equally applicable to Pakistan, more so now that the annual budget expenditures, particularly allocations for social sectors, are being firmed up. Fair, free and transparent elections will also greatly improve Pakistan's standing. There is also a lesson in the Index rating for Pakistan that in the growing ambience of globalisation it has become important that one should not only be good but also look good. The 115th position in a class of 121 is not something that the Pakistanis would be happy with. This must change for the better.