The United States fared well this year, climbing to 83rd in the world, up 14 places since last year.

The jump is partially because of an improvement in the indicator for potential terrorist acts in the US and the general decrease in other countries' rankings relative to the US.

But although the US saw an increase in ranking despite the economic crisis, some factors -- such as the ease of access to weapons, a large prison population and ongoing combat deaths -- prevented it from ranking higher this year.