The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2003

devoted to country ratings and rank- ings. “Good governance,” a somewhat amorphous buzzword, is the first of the Millennium Challenge Account criteria. The World Bank has devel- oped a comparison tool that ranks countries by governance indicators, including corruption control, rule of law, political freedom, and others. While the ranking system is based on an extensive survey and fairly compli- cated statistics, the results are dis- played simply and usefully on the World Bank Web site ( http://info. worldbank.org/governance/kkz/ gov2001map.asp ). Foreign aid programs like the MCA are only part of the equation by which the Center for Global Development evaluates the development commit- ment of the most developed countries ( www.cgdev.org ). In collaboration with Foreign Policy magazine, CGD produces an annual Commitment to Development Index ranking 21 indus- trialized countries on the extent to which their aid, trade, investment, migration, peacekeeping, and environ- ment policies actually foster develop- ment. It turns out the world’s biggest donors, the U.S. and Japan, are at the bottom of the heap in this regard. Political and social freedom are measured in the “Country Ratings” published annually by Freedom House, a think tank in Washington, D.C. ( www.freedomhouse.org/ ratings/index.htm ). R atings are provided from 1972 for most coun- tries, making it a useful tool for deter- mining relative stability and trends for a country or government. This year the U.S. pushed Finland aside for the title of most economical- ly competitive, according to the World Economic Forum’s Competitiveness Report ( www.weforum.org/site/ homepublic.nsf/Content/Global+ Competitiveness+Programme ). On the Web site each country’s com- petitiveness scores can be viewed by individual factors like infrastructure, labor, or government, as well as by overall result. The rankings can be viewed as a list of all countries or by region. A related site, also sponsored by the World Economic Forum, has similar rankings for information tech- nology readiness (links to the IT rank- ings can be found at the URL above). Environmental sustainability is another buzzword that has recently come into its own. The Center for International Earth Science Infor- mation Network at Columbia University ranks countries by the cur- rent status of their environment and their capacity to manage future envi- ronmental challenges ( www.ciesin. columbia.edu/indicators/ESI/ rank.html ). A year ago, in the July-August 2002 Cybernotes, we reported on another instructive ranking service, the Transparency International Bribe Payers Index ( www.transparency. org/index.html ). T he current index shows Australians paying the fewest bribes. American companies are still among the top 10, though behind, among others, Italians, Russians, and Malaysians. — Aster Grahn Vacationing in Perilous Times The U.S. war in Iraq set off a firestorm of anti-Americanism around the world. U.S. embassies have ratch- eted up security precautions in response, but what about the ordinary American tourist? Is he or she wel- come or safe anywhere? What precau- tions can American tourists take? Conde Nast’s Traveler asked its reporters in 17 places around the globe these questions, and their infor- mative answers are featured in the June issue, most of which is posted at J U LY- A U G U S T 2 0 0 3 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 11 C YBERNOTES 50 Years Ago... We shall not react emotionally and irresponsibly to the many slings and arrows for which our Service provides the target these days. As trained observers of the political scene in many countries, we have learned a few lessons that should help us in these difficult times, particularly the advantages of forbearance and patience in the long-pull. This does not mean that our editorial comments will be restricted to the heat of the Washington summer or the relative merits of specialization versus varied assignments. — Editorial, “Your Journal,” FSJ , August l953.