The 2017 Global Peace Index has declared Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq
and South Sudan to be among the “least peaceful” countries in the world.
Incidentally, all four have been targets of U.S.-led destabilization efforts
that were used to pursue economic interests that suit the U.S.
The annual Global Peace Index, recently released for June 2017, has found that while the world is more peaceful now than last year, violence has increased significantly overall in the past decade.
Although the situation has improved in many countries, the ten
lowest-ranking nations – known as the world’s “least peaceful” countries – have
shown little change in recent years.
However, nine of those ten countries share one commonality in
the violence that they’ve experienced: U.S.-led destabilization efforts and
regime change operations.
Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan: Targets for regime change and manufactured
sectarianism
Syria,
which ranked last in the June 2017 index, has been in the throes of a U.S.-led regime change
effort for the better part of six years – a conflict that has
ravaged one of the most prosperous nations in the Middle East and turned it into the latest
battleground for a proxy war between the U.S. and Russia.
The U.S. has been planning the overthrow of Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad at least as far back as 2006. Since the 2011 “uprising,” the
U.S. has continuously funded and armed opposition groups in Syria along with
several extremist groups, many of which have since joined terrorist
organizations like Daesh (ISIS) and the al-Nusra Front.
The
nations that rank just above Syria – Iraq and Afghanistan – were both targets of major U.S. invasions in
the early 2000s and the U.S.’ continued presence in both of these countries has
greatly contributed to the still-deteriorating situations in both nations.
With the
U.S. troop presence growing in Iraq and set to surge dramatically in
Afghanistan with the deployment of over 50,000 troops, more conflict is
inevitable.
South
Sudan: “Nation-building” gone awry
South Sudan, which ranked fourth, has also been victimized by
U.S. intervention and “nation-building.”
The U.S.
pushed South Sudan to secede from Sudan in 201,1 as South Sudan held 75 percent
of Sudan’s oil reserves — the largest oil reserves in all of Africa. Analysts
argued that the U.S. sought to create an independent South Sudan in order to dislodge Chinese claims to
Sudanese oil, as the Chinese had previously signed oil contracts with the (now
Northern) Sudanese government. The U.S.’ significant aid contributions to South
Sudan, totaling $1.6 billion between 2013 and 2016, suggest that Washington has
sought to influence the government there for that very purpose.
Just two
years later, however, South Sudan dissolved into a deadly civil war that
has killed tens of thousands and displaced more than 1.5 million. Some analysts have suggested that the
civil war broke out between South Sudanese President Salva Kiir Mayardit and
his former deputy Riek Machar only when Mayardit started to cozy up to China.
The chaos from U.S. meddling in South Sudan has reached beyond
its borders and brought trouble to Sudan, with that nation ranking as the
eighth least peaceful nation.
Yemen:
U.S.-backed Saudi aggressors responsible for famine, war crimes
Yemen,
which ranked fifth, has also been involved in a U.S.-linked conflict, though
the United States’ role has been less direct. While the U.S. is not leading the
fight in Yemen, it has ardently backed the war’s aggressor –
Saudi Arabia – from the beginning and has supplied the Saudis with
billions of dollars in weapons, as well as occasionally bombed locations in
Yemen to aid their Gulf allies.
In
addition, the U.S. has turned a blind eye to the Saudis’ numerous war crimes in
Yemen, despite the enormity of the tragedy unfolding
there, including blocking aid shipments and consequently
triggering widespread famine. The U.S. has been eager to see Saudi influence continue
in Yemen – as it was prior to the conflict – due to Yemen’s location, which
grants it control over the strategic strait of Bab al-Mandab, a chokepoint for
the Saudi oil trade.
Yemen is followed by Somalia in the rankings.
Somalia:
State of anarchy persists thanks to U.S. involvement
U.S.
involvement in Somalia has a long history and reached a climax in the early
1990s, whenthe U.S.-supported military dictatorship of
Siad Barre was overthrown, plunging the nation into civil war.
Thanks to
Somalia’s strategic location for global oil markets at the mouth of the Red
Sea, the U.S. became involved and, according to a staffer for
the chief of the UN Somalia operation, “dragged the UN into Somalia kicking and
screaming.” Somalia remained in a state of anarchy for 16 years until a
coalition of Islamic courts took over the capital in 2006. However, this
government was soon overthrown by
Ethiopia with U.S. support.
Current
U.S. anti-terrorism policy in Somalia, which includes the use of airstrikes,
has been blamed for worsening the nation’s
conflict and its burgeoning humanitarian
crisis, having driven the nation into famine.
Libya:
Plunged into chaos after challenging U.S. petrodollar
Another
recent victim of U.S. regime change efforts, Libya now ranks as the seventh
least peaceful nation in the world. Once one of the most prosperous nations in
Africa, former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi made the “mistake” of challenging
the U.S. petrodollar system by creating a gold-backed pan-African currency
known as the dinar. Following his ouster, Libya was essentially transformed into a failed state where
there is still no clear government, terrorism runs rampant and slaves are now
openly traded in public.
Ukraine:
Targeted by U.S.-led coup over gas industry
Ukraine,
which was the target of a U.S.-led coup in
2014 to weaken the influence of Russia’s lucrative gas industry on European gas
markets, now ranks tenth among the least peaceful nations in the world. The
only nation ranking near the bottom that has not experienced clear U.S.
involvement is the Central African Republic, which ranks ninth.
The
United States’ not-so-peaceful ranking
The United States itself also plummeted dramatically in this
year’s Global Peace Index, now ranking 114 out of the 163 nations surveyed.
This decrease was the greatest decline measured in any country this year.
Statisticians have blamed divisiveness
that has made itself plain following the 2016 presidential election, as well as
a continued rise in homicide rates.
The United States’ involvement in military conflicts abroad is
not factored into its ranking, meaning that this placement is conservative at
best. As indicated by the ten lowest-ranking nations, if this factor were taken
into consideration, the U.S. could likely find itself at the bottom of the list
for its role in spurring disastrous and deadly conflicts around the world under
the guise of foreign policy.
