Iceland

It is sad to hear the government of Iceland is on the verge of bankruptcy - I always consider the country as one of the most successful few in the world.

You know what: Although this small island on the edge of Europe (so much so it is considered negligible on the map of the board game Diplomacy) and has a population of merely 300,000 (smaller than Macau, and just half of that of Kwun Tong), it is the fourth most productive country in the world by gross domestic product per capita, and the most developed society in the world (ranked first on the United Nations' Human Development Index).

Yes, Iceland lacks natural resources (except some hydro-electric and geothermic power), but over the centuries her inhabitants made an exceptional achievement in preserving their natural environment - while making their country fully modernized at the same time.

As a case control study in history, have you heard of the Norwegian settlers in Greenland around the 10th century ?

PS. Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev met at Reykjavík, the capital of Iceland, in 1986. For that single event, which signified the end of the Cold War, this lovely island should be awarded with the Nobel Prize in Peace.