The Global Top 20
1. Singapore
2. Ireland
3. Switzerland
4. United States
5. Netherlands
6. Canada
7. Denmark
8. Sweden
9. Austria
10. Finland
11. New Zealand
12. United Kingdom
13. Australia
14. Norway
15. Czech Republic
16. Croatia
17. Israel
18. France
19. Malaysia
20. Slovenia
The A.T. Kearney/FOREIGN POLICY Globalization Index™ explores the relationships between a country’s global integration and its levels of public education spending, political freedom, perceived corruption, and susceptibility to terrorism. The results show that:
– On average, more globally integrated countries spend more on public education. This relationship was particularly strong in developing countries.
– Citizens of globally integrated countries also enjoy greater political rights and civil liberties. And globalization may keep politicians honest, as the adoption of higher international standards for transparency tends to discourage corruption and increase government efficiency.
– Opening a country’s borders alone does not make the country more vulnerable to terrorism. Little correlation was found between a country’s level of global integration and the number of significant terrorist attacks on its soil.
Sounds to me like the US is going backwards not forwards in this area. Funny- we’re global when it comes to military incursions and insular when it comes to business.
The study finds that the United States rose on the strength of its growth in Internet hosts and secure servers, which are enabling factors for continued technological integration. But it was much less open in the economic realm, lagging behind in trade and foreign direct investment (FDI), due in part to a large and vibrant domestic market.
Another finding: in political and diplomatic terms the United States ranked 57th of the 62 ranked countries when it comes to signing international treaties.
About the Index: The A.T. Kearney/FOREIGN POLICY Magazine Globalization Index ranks 62 countries representing 85 percent of the world’s population, based on 12 variables grouped in four categories: economic integration, personal contact, technological connectivity, and political engagement.
How it Works: The index quantifies economic integration by combining data on trade and foreign direct investment. Technological connectedness is gauged by counting Internet users, Internet hosts, and secure servers. Political engagement is assessed by taking stock of the number of selected international organizations and the number of selected international treaties that each country signs, as well as each country’s financial and personnel contributions to U.N. peacekeeping missions and levels of governmental transfers. Personal contact is charted by looking at a country’s international travel and tourism, international telephone traffic and cross-border transfers, including remittances.
FREE FOOD: Download the report here. Get the detailed data here.