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April 30 2005 - The 2005 A.T. Kearney/FOREIGN POLICY Globalization Index (TM) records Singapore's rise to the top ranking based on the strength of its increased political engagement and foreign trade ties. Singapore edged out Ireland, the most globalized country in the previous three annual surveys.

The USA joined the top 5 for the first time. Despite its weaker political and economic connections with the rest of the world, the United States increased its globalization ranking due to its technological strength. The US holds first place for both the number of Internet users and secure servers. Canada's rating on the index also reflected its technological sophistication.

The A.T. Kearney/FOREIGN POLICY Globalization Index (TM) is claimed to be the first comprehensive empirical measure of globalization and its impact. The index measures economic, person-to-person, political, and technological integration in a total of 62 countries. These countries account for 96 percent of world GDP and 85 percent of the globe's population.

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 2005 survey looked at wider aspects of globalization and found that:

• Globally integrated countries, particularly those that could be classified as 'developing' tended to spend more than the average on public education.
• Citizens of globally integrated countries typically had greater political rights and civil liberties. Politicians in these countries were more likely to be honest and adhere to international standards of governance.
• Having fewer international barriers did not lead to increased vulnerability to terrorism.

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