Oh Canada, how lucky you are!

A recent Italian report (May 31st) came out with the world “peace” ranking. Peace in the sense of which countries are the most tranquil out there.

The report, called the “Global Peace Index”, was compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit, the analytical branch of the world-famous British magazine, The Economist. An Australian philanthropist, Steve Killelea, who is interested in encouraging international peace, proposed the report. The factors which were taken into consideration were: the state of war in various countries, crime rate, religion, level of democracy, welfare, etc. The Index analysed 121 countries, pretty well from A to Z.

The most peaceful country in the world? Not too surprising, Norway. The Norwegians are followed by New Zealand, Denmark, Ireland, Japan and Finland. Canada? It came after Sweden, which came after the Finns. The most dangerous or least peaceful country in the world is currently—and this shouldn’t be too surprising—Iraq. The U.S.? It came in 96th, just before one of its greatest enemies, Iran. Putin’s beloved Russia? Position no. 118. And what about the Bel Paese, the country of opera, Ferraris, Verdi, fine wine and women and the Vatican, one of the so-called greatest promoters of peace and brotherhood in the world (I say so-called because it is a known fact that just after World War II the Vatican assisted many ex Nazis to escape to South America. One of the most famous was a fellow by the name of Adolf Eichmann who had been given a false passport by a Franciscan monk in Genoa in order to flee to Argentina)? Oh, it came in 33rd.