An organization called “Global Liberty” combined four published indexes of various perspectives on freedom to form a more comprehensive index of overall freedom. The map at right shows the result as a color-coded map. Interestingly, the top ranking country on this new index is Estonia:
It is justified by history that Estonia would sit atop this list. This small Baltic state fought Soviet socialism, defeating the Soviets in the Estonian Liberation War of 1918-1920 and winning 20 years of independence. During World War II, Estonia was invaded by the USSR following the 1939 signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop agreement between the USSR and Nazi Germany, and the Soviets killed off the political and the intellectual leaders. The country suffered immensely under their rule.
Estonia finally won their freedom following the 1987-1991 Singing Revolution, in which Estonians gathered night after night, singing national songs and hymns banned by the Soviets and listening to rock music. When the Soviets attempted to quell the revolution, the Estonians used their bodies to shield radio and TV stations from being attacked by tanks. The revolution ended without any bloodshed, with 1/5th of the population having participated at some point. It marks one of the greatest triumphs of the power of liberty over authoritarianism in history. Estonia has since established a solid government, liberalized trade and expanded individual freedom. The Estonian Reform Party, a free market liberal political party, is also gaining influence and has made a significant impact on Estonian politics, controlling about 18% of parliament. While Estonia is far from a libertarian paradise (with a score of only 85.3%), it is closer than any other country on this list.
The indexes that comprise the new, combined index are:
The Heritage Foundation/Wall Street Journal: 2006 Index of Economic Freedom
The Frasier Institute/Cato Institute: 2005 Economic Freedom of the World
Freedom House: 2005 Freedom in the World
Reporters without Borders: Press Freedom Index
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