Global Peace Index launched
The Global Peace Index is published by the Institute for Economics and Peace, a global think tank dedicated to the research and education of the relationship between economics, business and peace
It is collated and calculated by the Economist Intelligence Unit. Comprised of a range of indicators, the Index takes into consideration both internal and external factors influencing the peacefulness of countries. Factors measured include the levels of violent crime, political stability and military expenditure, which are correlated against a number of social development indicators such as corruption, freedom of the press and school enrolment ratio.
This year's results include:
• World is slightly less peaceful in 2010 due to overall increases in homicides, the likelihood of violent demonstrations and perceptions of criminality. In some nations (including Greece, Portugal, Romania, Albania, UAE and Madagascar) an intensification of conflicts and growing instability appears to be linked to the global economic downturn in late 2008 and early 2009
• Iceland, which had slipped from 1st in 2008 to 4th in 2009 is back at 2nd, showing the resilience of peaceful countries. Less peaceful countries which suffered a similar economic crisis such as Madagascar are still slipping.
• Latin America has the largest fall in peacefulness since last year, due to an increase in the levels of internal violence, particularly the number of homicides, the intensity of internal conflict and the levels of perceived criminality
• South Asia had the largest fall in peacefulness over a four-year period, mainly due to increased involvement in conflicts, a rise in the number of deaths from internal conflict and human rights abuses. The main countries that experienced decreases in peacefulness were India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan
• Over the 4 year period, Middle East and Africa improved their levels of peacefulness due to a decrease in both the number and the intensity of conflicts fought, a reduction in military expenditures, and a decrease in the availability of small weapons (although they remain the 2 least peaceful regions).
