2010 Global Peace Index

The Institute for Economics and Peace announced the results of their 2010 Global Peace Index yesterday.  The study, launched in 2007, is the first to rank nations by their peacefulness. The 2010 results are notable for their ability to look at changes in peace over time. The 149 countries included in the study are ranked on peacefulness based on 20 indicators level of organized conflict, relations with neighboring countries and level of distrust in other citizens. The results suggested that the world has become slightly less peaceful in the last four years. Since 2007, only the following four indicators have shown overall improvement:

• Ease of access to weapons of minor destruction
• Potential for terrorist acts
• Military expenditure as a percentage of GDP
• Respect for human rights

The Rankings

New Zealand took top honors but the Scandinavian countries had the best regional showing, all ranking in the top 10 for peacefulness. An interesting fact, the top three countries in the index are islands. Although Sub-Saharan Africa remains the least peaceful region, it was one of only two regions (along with the Middle East & North Africa) to show improvements in peacefulness. Two countries where SFCG works, Angola and Cote d’Ivoire, along with Uganda, showed the biggest improvements towards peacefulness within the region.  The United States was ranked 85/149; it had a medium state of peace, around the same level as China and Serbia. Perhaps not surprisingly, Iraq was ranked lowest with Somalia and Afghanistan scoring only marginally higher.

Some quick takeaways:

9 Habits of Peaceful Societies:

• Well functioning government
• Sound business environment
• Respectful of human rights and tolerance
• Good relations with neighboring states
• High levels of freedom of information
• Acceptance of others
• High participation rates in primary and secondary education
• Low levels of corruption
• Equitable sharing of resources

Peace Pays:

• From 2006-2009 the total economic impact of the cessation of violence could have been US$ 28.2 trillion
• Reducing global violence by 25% would have yielded an annual US$1.85 trillion in additional or redirected economic activities
• As the world’s largest economy, the United States’ potential dynamic peace dividend for 2009 was in excess of US$1 trillion (approximately 7% of actual US GDP)
• Countries with a high per capita income, large GDPs and lower levels of peacefulness have the largest possible gains in absolute terms. This I highly relevant for multi-national corporation who have an interest in tapping into the peace dividend
• If the world were 25% more peaceful this would have achieved an additional $1.85 trillion which would be redirected to other activities. For example, if the G20 countries were to pay 0.7 of their GDP to meet the Millennium Development Goals, then the savings in one year alone could fun MDG commitments for six years!

It’s a fascinating study, definitely worth a deeper look. Read more here!