The Global Peace Index (GPI) is an annual
report produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace, a
think tank headquartered in Sydney, Australia. The Index was
first launched in 2007, and claims to be the first study to
rank countries around the world according to their levels of
peacefulness.
The GPI gauges global peace using three
broad themes: the level of societal safety and security, the
extent of ongoing domestic and international conflict, and the
degree of militarization.
It takes into account both internal factors
such as levels of violence and crime within the country and
external ones such as military expenditures and wars. In 2017,
23 indicators were used to establish each country’s
peacefulness score.
The GPI has, however, been criticised for
not including indicators specifically relating to violence
against women and children.
The
2017 Index found that while the world became more peaceful in
the last year, over the last decade it has become
significantly less peaceful.
Due to gains in six of the nine
geographical regions represented, more countries improved
their levels of peacefulness than those where they
deteriorated: 93 states compared to 68.
Iceland remained the most peaceful country
in the world, a spot it has occupied since 2008. The other
four most peaceful countries were New Zealand, Portugal,
Austria, and Denmark, followed by the Czech Republic,
Slovenia, Canada, Switzerland, and Ireland and Japan tied for
tenth.
Eight of these nations are fairly
homogenous in terms of ethnicity and religion.
The scores for North America deteriorated
as a result of issues in the United States, while there was a
mild improvement in Canada.
The already very low American number fell
further due to several indicators: the homicide rate, level of
perceived criminality in society, and the intensity of
organised internal conflict.
The last measure worsened because of the
increased levels of political polarisation within the American
political system.
Europe remained the most peaceful region in
the world. However, the report took note of the impact of
terrorist attacks, and deteriorating relations between Russia
and its neighbours.
The number of countries seeing a record
number of deaths from terrorism rose to 23. Among those were
Denmark, Belgium, Sweden, and France. Researchers found that
they now have a higher rate of terrorism than they did 10
years ago.
There was also an increase in levels of
corruption within the political elites, rising inequality in
wealth, and diminishing acceptance of immigration, something
which populist parties have successfully capitalised on.
At the other end, Syria was the least
peaceful country in the world for the fifth year running.
Before the outbreak of civil war there, it was the 65th least
peaceful. Its fall has been the starkest of the past decade.
The other four most violent countries were
Afghanistan, Iraq, South Sudan, and Yemen followed by Somalia,
Libya, Sudan, Central African Republic and Ukraine.
Somalia and Libya have descended into
anarchy and have become failed states, while Ukraine faces a
low-level conflict involving Russia.
The other six were engulfed in protracted
and deadly civil wars and terrorist attacks, fueled by severe
ethnic and religious animosities which showed little sign of
abating.
The Middle East and North Africa were the
least peaceful regions on the globe, and there appears to be
growing inequality between
the most and least peaceful countries.
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