Bangladesh ranks 22nd among 50 most conflict-ridden countries: US-based researcher

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The United States ranked the last among the 50 most conflict-ridden countries​

Photo: Collected

Bangladesh ranked 22nd among the world's 50 most conflict-ridden countries, according to a new research that measures political violence around the globe.

Myanmar, with the highest number of armed groups in the world, topped the list with a rating of "extreme," followed by Syria and Mexico.

Ukraine, Nigeria, Brazil, Yemen, Iraq, Democratic Republic of Congo and Colombia ranked the rest positions ranging from four to ten on the list with the rating of "extreme," according to the data.

On the other hand, superpower Russia ranked 39th with the rating of "Turbulent", the third of four categories with the top "extreme".

Bangladesh ranked 22nd with a rating of "high", the second category.

Afghanistan, neighboring India and financially-stricken Pakistan ranked 13rd, 16th and 19th with the rating of "high" like Bangladesh.

The United States ranked the last among the 50 most conflict-ridden countries. The US ranking is driven by rising levels of political violence and a proliferation of far-right groups in the country in recent years, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED).

The ACLED, a data collection, analysis and crisis mapping nonprofit based in the US state of Wisconsin, gathers data for more than 240 countries and territories around the world.

In one year to early September, it recorded over 139,000 incidents of political violence worldwide with an increase of 27 percent over the prior year.

On the basis of four indicators — deadliness, danger to civilians, geographic diffusion and armed group fragmentation, the ACLED Conflict Index ranks every country and territory, using data collected for the past year.

While most countries saw at least one incident of political violence over the past year, 50 were ranked the highest in terms of their levels of conflict, receiving ratings of "extreme," "high," or "turbulent."

The US was rated as "turbulent," along with 19 other countries, mostly in Africa and Asia, including Libya, Ghana and Chad.

Sam Jones, head of communications at ACLED, said the US placement on the list shows that political violence is not confined to poor or nondemocratic countries.

"The US is in the same turbulent index category as other countries that might be more traditionally understood as 'conflict-affected' like the Central African Republic … though, of course, it has a much lower overall ranking than such countries, which is important to note," Jones told the media.

France was marked by violent anti-police riots this summer after police shot and killed a teenager in a Paris suburb, according to the data.

Canada has seen a small but noticeable uptick in anti-LGBTQ demonstrations in recent years, a spillover from larger US protests organised by far-right groups.

Thomas Zeitzoff, a political violence expert at the American University in Washington, noted that recent elections in both France and Canada have been marked by vitriolic rhetoric.

"It's not the same level of violence [in France and Canada], but I think in general the US is not isolated in that there is definitely … across the Western world … increased political contention," Zeitzoff said.

ACLED has been tracking US political violence since 2020, a year marked by a perfect storm of crises — a deadly pandemic, social justice protests and a divisive presidential election.