The world became slightly less peaceful in 2016, Portugal, which built on gains last year to rise nine places to fifth globally. Europe was the region that suffered most from terrorism compared with last year, with Turkey, France and Belgium among the most affected.
It now accounts for six of the top seven places in the global rankings. The highest-ranking countries in the world remain unchanged from 2015: Iceland, Denmark and Austria. The largest improvement in the region was recorded by Portugal, which built on gains last year to rise nine places to fifth globally. This reflects continuing improvements in the context of the country’s gradual return to political normality following its EU/ IMF economic and financial adjustment process. Notwithstanding the difficulties faced by the left-of-centre government elected in 2015, Portugal has recorded a second year of improvements across numerous dimensions, notably the likelihood of violent demonstrations, but also the Political Terror Scale and political instability. Among the other Eurozone countries to have exited similar bailout arrangements, there were only minor movements: Ireland roughly maintained its score while Spain and Cyprus saw slight deteriorations, Greece, slipped back …
