CYPRUS has moved up three places to 48th out of 144 countries on the Global Peace Index (GPI), but is still in second last place when it comes to the Western European countries coming in 18th after Greece in 19th place.
The index is based on a system developed by the Economist Intelligence Unit that is now in its third year. It uses a broad range of 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators determined by an international panel of experts that can produce an accurate estimate of a country’s internal and external propensity towards peace.
These include levels of democracy and transparency, education and material wellbeing.
In this year’s findings, the Index ranked Cyprus 48th in the world in terms of levels of peace, ascending three places since the GPI of 2008. This was largely due to its low risk of being the subject of a terrorist attack.
The countries at the top of the table are New Zealand, Denmark and Norway at 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively, while 14 out of the top 20 countries are located in either Western or Central Europe. All five Scandinavian countries are in the top 10 list. At the bottom of the Index is Iraq, followed closely by Afghanistan and Somalia.
While some people might argue that analysing levels of peace is a futile endeavour if little is being done to minimise the incidence of its absence, the Index in fact provides much more than just a list.
Researchers working for the Index observed that there was a marked decrease in the levels of peace in 2009, due in large part to an increase in violent conflict across the world that has been caused by ethnic and political rivalries being exacerbated by the global economic recession.
From Gaza, Somalia and Sri Lanka, to Zimbabwe, Madagascar and Afghanistan, conflict and political turmoil have been observed to increase, thus contributing to an overall drop in global ‘peace’. The indicators that are used by the Index in gauging peace are extremely sensitive and take into account factors such as well-being, political expression and transparency, affluence and economic vitality and the possession of choice and health.
Along with the GPI, an adjacent, unprecedented analysis of the economic causes and effects of the absence of peace was also undertaken, which served to highlight the correlation between the economic health of a country and the levels of peace within it.
Iceland provides the best example of this connection, as it topped the Index last year but has since dropped to fourth place because of the significant impact the recession has had there. Steve Killelea, founder of the Global Peace Index, explains:
“People need to understand the structure and attitudes that create peace and start to build them in to their societies. Peace lies at the centre of being able to manage the many and varied challenges facing humanity, simply because peace creates the optimum environment in which the other activities that contribute to human growth can take place… Peace does have an economic value apart from the very real humanitarian values associated with it. Research has calculated the impact of lost peace to the world economy over a period of ten years is US$48 trillion.”
With the loss of such a substantial amount of money, one could be excused for supposing that such a weighty statistic would be enough to convince the leading countries of the world to act with a bit more urgency and expedience when it comes to maintaining peace. However, a possibly surprising yet ultimately predictable conclusion of the Index is that the three leading military powers of the world hold significantly forlorn places on the index with the US at 83rd, China at 74th and Russia at a dismal 136th. When observing the countries of the G8, excluding the three previously mentioned, only Japan (7), Canada (8) and Germany (16) can be considered as doing well. The UK came in at 35th.
The Global Peace Index was founded by Steve Killelea, an Australian entrepreneur and philanthropist, and its members include a range of international personalities, from Desmond Tutu and Kofi Anan to Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, chairman of Anglo American and former chairman of Royal Dutch Shell. It composes part of the Institute for Economics and Peace, a think tank that attempts to determine the fluid and complex relationship between economics, business and peace.
For full list of countries www.visionofhumanity.org
