The United States ranks a mediocre 28th in a new world quality index, way behind winner Germany and even below Poland and economically-crippled Greece.
The “Quality of Nationality Index” gives the U.S. a rating of 63.5 percent, the lowest since the survey began comparing 161 nations in 2011.
The index was released in Zurich Thursday and ranks the “quality of nationalities.” It measures internal factors such as the economy and peace and external factors such as ease of travel and the ability to work and settle without interruption.
Germany remained at the top, with a score of 83.1 percent, and the Democratic Republic of Congo was last at 14.3 percent.
Despite ranking 28th, the U.S. remains among those dubbed “very high quality.”
Dimitry Kochenov, a constitutional law professor behind the index, said the survey sizes up the “worth of nationalities” instead of simply countries.
“Nationality plays a significant part in determining our opportunities and aspirations, and the QNI allows us, for the first time, to analyse this objectively,” he said in a statement.
It uses data from groups like the World Bank to compare countries.
Christian H. Kälin, chairman of Henley & Partners which released the survey, said it is a comprehensive look at nations in a bid to help those seeking areas to live and work.
“What makes the QNI so unique is that for the first time ever, we have combined the internal and external values of each nationality to create a true perspective of our globalized world. It is clearly better to have a nationality of a country with long life expectancy, good schooling and high prosperity – like Australia – than of a country which offers lower levels of security, schooling and healthcare to its nationals – like Ukraine,” he said.
And, he added, “It is better to have a nationality with the rights to work and reside in several countries, like the Netherlands, with work and residence rights throughout the EU, rather than, say, Japan, which, although equally prosperous, does not offer its nationals any rights at all outside their own borders. It is also better to have a nationality of a peaceful and stable country, like Denmark, rather than of a country with security risks, like Venezuela.”
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]
