There are better ways to rank nations than according to whether they are simply wealthy or democratic, a political scientist who has devised a new index has said.
Parag Khanna, who recently unveiled the Periodic Table of States, said that his method offered a more scientific guide to how stable countries were.
Speaking to The National, Dr Khanna said that stability, which the index calculates by combining strength with so-called "stateness”, was the goal of all nations regardless of their political system.
The new index has placed the UAE and other Gulf countries among the top performers, surpassing some western nations.
Saudi Arabia ranks 24th out of 196 nations, while the UAE is 27th, ahead of New Zealand, which is ranked 29th and Iceland, which is 50th.
A new approach to measuring stability
Dr Khanna, chief executive of AlphaGeo, an AI analytics platform and the author of several books, said that other indices focusing on whether countries were democratic or non-democratic, or rich or poor, could be “vague and generalised”.
“I grew quite frustrated by those oversimplifications,” said Dr Khanna, who was born in India but spent part of his childhood living in Abu Dhabi.
“I really felt that we needed a more rigorous, scientific, technical approach to measuring the quality of states.”
Every nation, he said, “wanted to be a better version of itself”, so he created a dashboard that would allow a country to improve using what he said were objective indicators.
He said that all states wanted to be stable, but there was not a good answer to what a stable state was, so he included variables such as military capability, population size, territorial size, trade balance, sovereign assets and currency stability.
The second key measure, stateness, was not just a function, Dr Khanna said, of whether a country was democratic. The Periodic Table of States, he said, put “decidedly less” emphasis on democracy than some other indices.
He said that “far more important” were measures such as the quality of public institutions, the efficiency of public service delivery and the accountability of government. Rule of law, median income, food security, energy reliability, climate resilience and the quality of infrastructure also determine stateness.
“If a state scores well in all of these things, in strength and stateness, then in all likelihood it is quite stable,” Dr Khanna said. “Stability is the result, stability is the target, stability is what every state wants.”
He said that many nations, such as Kazakhstan, Singapore and Vietnam, ranked quite highly in the index even though they were not western-style democracies.
Why the UAE ranks highly
For the UAE, he said strong points were good governance, the level of development, connectivity, international influence and stability. Other plus points include levels of foreign direct investment, GDP and energy security.
In recent meetings with UAE officials, Dr Khanna said he highlighted areas that could be enhanced, including increased innovation, expanding overall economic diversification and growing the market capitalisation of the stock exchange.
Switzerland is ranked first in the index, followed by Germany, Japan, South Korea and Sweden. The top 10 also includes Canada, the US, France, Denmark and the UK. Other highly ranked nations include China (13th), Qatar (34th), India (43rd) and Kuwait (53rd).
Other analysts said that a main strength of the Gulf states was that they ensured that their citizens had a high standard of living.
“Healthcare is more or less for free, education is free, even tertiary education is mostly for free. They enjoy very high subsidies for fuel and water. The states provide them with a great infrastructure,” said Martin Beck, an associate of the German Institute for Global and Area Studies.
While there are other concerns, in the UAE there is “a high degree of support” for the country’s leaders, said Clive Jones, professor of regional security at the University of Durham in the UK.
Frederic Schneider, an economist and Gulf analyst, and former lecturer at the University of Birmingham in Dubai, said that even indices that combined many metrics were “still very constrained” if they produced a single figure.
An alternative, he said, was to have multiple indicators that were not put together into a single score. This might be preferable, he said, given countries’ different objectives.
“As a policymaker, you have different goals. You have different goals from the country next door. Also, you as a minister of education, for example, have a different objective than the ministry of defence. You have to pick the metrics that are most suitable,” Dr Schneider said.
Some goals, such as decoupling economies from hydrocarbon production, were specific to particular states, so might not be highlighted by a catch-all index.
He said, though, that stability – the metric focused on by the Periodic Table of States – was an important metric that many governments prioritised, although more than one metric was important at analysing good governance.
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
FORSPOKEN
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ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates, Etihad and Swiss fly direct from the UAE to Zurich from Dh2,855 return, including taxes.
The chalet
Chalet N is currently open in winter only, between now and April 21. During the ski season, starting on December 11, a week’s rental costs from €210,000 (Dh898,431) per week for the whole property, which has 22 beds in total, across six suites, three double rooms and a children’s suite. The price includes all scheduled meals, a week’s ski pass, Wi-Fi, parking, transfers between Munich, Innsbruck or Zurich airports and one 50-minute massage per person. Private ski lessons cost from €360 (Dh1,541) per day. Halal food is available on request.
Bio
Born in Dubai in 1994
Her father is a retired Emirati police officer and her mother is originally from Kuwait
She Graduated from the American University of Sharjah in 2015 and is currently working on her Masters in Communication from the University of Sharjah.
Her favourite film is Pacific Rim, directed by Guillermo del Toro
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
FA CUP FINAL
Manchester City 6
(D Silva 26', Sterling 38', 81', 87', De Bruyne 61', Jesus 68')
Watford 0
Man of the match: Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)
What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
TOUR RESULTS AND FIXTURES
June 3: NZ Provincial Barbarians 7 Lions 13
June 7: Blues 22 Lions 16
June 10: Crusaders 3 Lions 12
June 13: Highlanders 23 Lions 22
June 17: Maori All Blacks 10 Lions 32
June 20: Chiefs 6 Lions 34
June 24: New Zealand 30 Lions 15
June 27: Hurricanes 31 Lions 31
July 1: New Zealand 21 Lions 24
July 8: New Zealand v Lions
The low down
Producers: Uniglobe Entertainment & Vision Films
Director: Namrata Singh Gujral
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Nargis Fakhri, Bo Derek, Candy Clark
Rating: 2/5
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Richard Jewell
Director: Clint Eastwood
Stars: Paul Walter Hauser, Sam Rockwell, Brandon Stanley
Two-and-a-half out of five stars
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The five pillars of Islam
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Jetour T1 specs
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
India team for Sri Lanka series
Test squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Priyank Panchal, Mayank Agarwal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Shubhman Gill, Rishabh Pant (wk), KS Bharath (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Sourabh Kumar, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.
T20 squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Surya Kumar Yadav, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Deepak Hooda, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Avesh Khan
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
One-off T20 International: UAE v Australia
When: Monday, October 22, 2pm start
Where: Abu Dhabi Cricket, Oval 1
Tickets: Admission is free
Australia squad: Aaron Finch (captain), Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey, Ashton Agar, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Lynn, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, Darcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Starc, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa, Peter Siddle
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