DOCSLIB.ORG

Global Peace Index 2021: Measuring Peace in a Complex World, Sydney, June 2021

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Global Peace Index 2021: Measuring Peace in a Complex World, Sydney, June 2021 GLOBAL PEACE INDEX PEACE GLOBAL GLOBAL PEACE 2020 INDEX 2021 Measuring peace in a complex world Institute for Economics & Peace Quantifying Peace and its Benefits The Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP) is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit think tank dedicated to shifting the world’s focus to peace as a positive, achievable, and tangible measure of human well-being and progress. IEP achieves its goals by developing new conceptual frameworks to define peacefulness; providing metrics for measuring peace; and uncovering the relationships between business, peace and prosperity as well as promoting a better understanding of the cultural, economic and political factors that create peace. IEP is headquartered in Sydney, with offices in New York, The Hague, Mexico City, Brussels and Harare. It works with a wide range of partners internationally and collaborates with intergovernmental organisations on measuring and communicating the economic value of peace. For more information visit www.economicsandpeace.org Please cite this report as: Institute for Economics & Peace. Global Peace Index 2021: Measuring Peace in a Complex World, Sydney, June 2021. Available from: http://visionofhumanity.org/reports (accessed Date Month Year). Contents Executive Summary 2 Key Findings 4 Section 1: Results 6 Highlights 7 2021 Global Peace Index Rankings 9 1 Regional Overview 14 Improvements and Deteriorations 21 The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Peace 25 Section 2: Trends 29 GPI Trends 30 2 Domain Trends 32 Section 3: The Economic Impact of Violence 37 Highlights 37 The Economic Value of Peace 2020 38 3 Methodology at a Glance 47 Section 4: Peace and Perceptions of Risk 49 Introduction 50 Perceptions by Government Type 53 4 Perceptions by Region 56 Section 5: Positive Peace 60 What is Positive Peace? 61 Positive Peace and the GPI 63 5 Positive Peace as a Predictor of Economic Outperformance 71 Section 6: Appendices 73 Appendix A: GPI Methodology 74 Appendix B: GPI Indicator Sources, Definitions & Scoring Criteria 78 6 Appendix C: GPI Domain Scores 86 Appendix D: Economic Cost of Violence 89 Endnotes 92 GLOBAL PEACE INDEX 2021 | 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This is the 15th edition of the Global Peace Index (GPI), Singapore fell out of the top ten, replaced by Ireland which ranks 163 independent states and territories which improved by three places. according to their level of peacefulness. Produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), the GPI is Only three of the nine regions in the world became the world’s leading measure of global peacefulness. more peaceful over the past year. The largest This report presents the most comprehensive data- improvement occurred in the Middle East and North driven analysis to-date on trends in peace, its economic Africa (MENA), followed by Europe and South Asia. value, and how to develop peaceful societies. However, MENA still remains the least peaceful region in the world. An improvement in the level of Ongoing The GPI covers 99.7 per cent of the world’s population, Conflict in MENA was the biggest driver of increased using 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators from peacefulness, with every indicator on the domain, highly respected sources, and measures the state of recording an improvement. In Europe the improvement peace across three domains: the level of Societal Safety in peacefulness was driven by improvements in internal and Security, the extent of Ongoing Domestic and safety and security, including improvements in International Conflict, and the degree of Militarisation. terrorism impact, violent demonstrations and violent crime. However, political instability and military This year’s results show that the average level of global expenditure deteriorated. peacefulness deteriorated by 0.07 per cent. This is the ninth deterioration in peacefulness in the last thirteen The largest regional deterioration occurred in North years, with 87 countries improving, and 73 recording America, which deteriorated across all three GPI deteriorations; however, the change in score is the domains. The primary driver of this fall in peacefulness second smallest in the history of the index. The 2021 was a deterioration on the Safety and Security domain, GPI reveals a world in which the conflicts and crises especially in the United States, where growing civil that emerged in the past decade have begun to abate, unrest led to increasing perceptions of criminality and only to be replaced with a new wave of tension and political instability, and more violent demonstrations. uncertainty as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and rising tensions between many of the major powers. In the past fifteen years peacefulness has fallen, with the average country score deteriorating by just under The full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on two per cent. Of the 163 countries in the GPI, 86 peacefulness is still unfolding. While some forms of recorded improvements, while 75 recorded violence declined in the short term, growing unease deteriorations and two recorded no change in score. with lockdowns and rising economic uncertainty Year on year deteriorations in peacefulness have been resulted in civil unrest increasing in 2020. Over 5,000 much more common, with peacefulness only improving pandemic-related violent events were recorded four times since the beginning of the index. Fifteen of between January 2020 and April 2021. It is still too early the 23 GPI indicators deteriorated between 2008 and to fully gauge the long-term effects of the pandemic on 2021. peace. However, the changing economic conditions in many nations increases the likelihood of political Two of the three GPI domains deteriorated over the instability and violent demonstrations. past decade, with Ongoing Conflict deteriorating by 6.2 per cent and Safety and Security deteriorating by 2.5 Iceland remains the most peaceful country in the world, per cent. Militarisation was the only domain to improve. a position it has held since 2008. It is joined at the top Terrorism and civil unrest have been the biggest of the index by New Zealand, Denmark, Portugal, and contributors to the global deterioration in peacefulness. Slovenia. Afghanistan is the least peaceful country in Ninety countries recorded increased terrorist activity, the world for the fourth consecutive year, followed by while only 50 had lower levels of terrorism. However, Yemen, Syria, South Sudan, and Iraq. All, except Yemen, after peaking in 2014, during the height of the Syrian have been ranked amongst the five least peaceful civil war, total deaths from terrorism have fallen every nations since at least 2015, with Afghanistan having year for the last six years, with the largest falls been ranked amongst the three least peaceful nations occurring in Syria, Iraq, and Nigeria. since 2010. Although the impact of terrorism and conflict have Eight of the ten countries at the top of the GPI are fallen over the past six years, the level of civil and located in Europe. This is the most European countries political unrest has risen. The number of violent to be ranked in the top ten in the history of the index. demonstrations rose in 61 countries since 2008, and fell GLOBAL PEACE INDEX 2021 | 2 in just 27 countries. There was a 244 per cent increase Around 18 per cent of people globally have suffered globally in riots, general strikes, and anti-government from an experience of violence, meaning that they or demonstrations between 2011 and 2019. There is someone they know experienced serious harm from currently no sign that this trend is abating. violent crime at some point in the last two years. The experience of violence is highest in sub-Saharan Africa, In 2021 the Ongoing Conflict domain improved for the where there are five countries where more than half of first time since 2015, with falls in the total number of the population have had a recent experience of conflicts fought, and a decrease in the overall intensity violence. of internal conflict. Twenty-one countries improved on internal conflicts fought, while only one deteriorated. Despite the high fear of violence across the world, most However, although the total number of conflict-related people feel that the world is getting safer. Nearly 75 per deaths has been falling for the past six years, the total cent of people globally feel as safe or more safe today number of conflicts and deaths is still much higher than than they did five years ago. The region that fared the a decade ago. Since 2010, the number of conflicts worst was South America, where over 50 per cent of globally has increased by 88 per cent. those surveyed felt less safe than five years ago. The Militarisation domain has improved by 4.2 per The country that recorded the highest fear of violence cent since 2008, the only GPI domain to record an was Brazil, where nearly 83 per cent of Brazilians were improvement in the last 15 years. The armed service very worried about being a victim of violent crime. rate has fallen in 111 countries, and military expenditure However, the experience of violence is greatest in as a percentage of GDP fell in 87. However, there Namibia, where 63 per cent of the population are signs that the trend of falling militarisation is experienced serious harm from violence, or known slowing and even reversing in some countries. Both someone who had in the previous two years. Feelings of the armed services rate and military expenditure have safety deteriorated the most in Lebanon. Just over 81 deteriorated since 2016. The increase in militarisation per cent of Lebanese people feel that the world was comes on the back of rising tensions between the less safe in 2019 compared to 2014. most economically and militarily powerful nations in the world. In the last five years, the MENA region The key to building peacefulness in times of conflict recorded the five largest deteriorations in military and uncertainty is Positive Peace.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Global Peace Index
    security Quantifying the state of peace Global Peace Index With a new Global Peace Index countries can be ranked according to their ‘state of peace’. By Joris Voorhoeve Indicators of peace hat can be counted does not count, and what counts W cannot be counted’. Does this bon mot, attributed to Violent conflict Albert Einstein, also apply to what counts above all – peace? 1 Number of external and internal violent conflicts in 000–0 In May 2007 a group of committed individuals launched a Number of deaths from organized external conflict new website, Vision of Humanity, as the reference point for the Number of deaths from organized internal conflict Global Peace Index (GPi), which is intended to highlight the Level of organized internal conflict relationship between global peace and sustainability.1 The GPi Relations with neighbouring countries. was developed by an international team of experts brought together at the initiative of Australian entrepreneur and Societal security philanthropist Steve Killelea, and drawn up by analysts from the Level of distrust in other citizens Economist Intelligence Unit. 7 Displaced persons as percentage of the population The GPi attempts to measure the ‘state of peace’ within and Political instability among 121 nations, based on 24 indicators in three areas: aspects Level of respect for human rights (political terror scale) of violent conflict, elements of societal security, and measures of 10 Potential for terrorist acts militarization (see box). From these, two weighted indices are 11 Homicides per 100,000 people calculated to provide measures of the extent to which each 1 Other violent crime statistics country is at peace internally and with other countries.
    [Show full text]
  • The Impact of the Terrorism on North African Tourism
    The impact of the terrorism on North African tourism Florentina-Stefania NEAGU The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania [email protected] Abstract. Tourism is one of the most important sector of the national economy and in the same time is the main reason for which the tourists visit the North African states. In 2015, the total contribution of North African tourism represent 10.8% from GDP registering an increase of 1.4% compared to 2014, also the contribution of tourism to employment was 10.4 % in 2015. But this increase was affected by the terrorist attacks in Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia. According to Global Terrorism Index for 2016, these countries are in the ranking of states with the highest impact of terrorism. Security situation in 2015 is the following: 947 incidents, 1198 deaths, 1603 injured, 264 property damages. This situation greatly influences the decision of tourists to travel in these countries. For demonstrate what is the impact on terrorism in this region have been analized the data bases of World Travel and Tourism Council, Council and Foreign Relations and Global Terrorism Database for the period 2010-2015. If the terrorist attacks continue in the next years not only the tourism will be affected but also the activities of its associates. Keywords: tourism, tourists, terrorism, security. Introduction The tourism industry annually attracts millions of tourists who want to discover new places, have fun and practice sports. The purpose of tourism is to satisfy the needs of tourists by providing them comfortable accommodation, food of the highest quality and providing entertainment.
    [Show full text]
  • Arab and American Think Tanks: New Possibilities for Cooperation? New Engines for Reform?
    THE BROOKINGS PROJECT ON U.S. POLICY TOWARDS THE ISLAMIC WORLD WORKING PAPER October 2004 ARAB AND AMERICAN THINK TANKS: NEW POSSIBILITIES FOR COOPERATION? NEW ENGINES FOR REFORM? EZZAT IBRAHIM T HE S ABAN C ENTER FOR M IDDLE E AST P OLICY AT T HE B ROOKINGS I NSTITUTION THE BROOKINGS PROJECT ON U.S. POLICY TOWARDS THE ISLAMIC WORLD WORKING PAPER October 2004 ARAB AND AMERICAN THINK TANKS: NEW POSSIBILITIES FOR COOPERATION? NEW ENGINES FOR REFORM? EZZAT IBRAHIM T HE S ABAN C ENTER FOR M IDDLE E AST P OLICY AT T HE B ROOKINGS I NSTITUTION THE AUTHOR EZZAT IBRAHIM is a foreign affairs journalist for the Towards the Islamic World at the Saban Center for Egyptian daily Al-Ahram,a leading Arabic language Middle East Policy, during the fall and winter of 2003. newspaper in the Middle East. Ibrahim is the first For the spring and summer of 2004, he served as a Egyptian and Middle Eastern journalist to receive the Congressional Fellow in the office of Representative prestigious Fulbright Congressional Fellowship award, Jim McDermott (D-Washington). Ibrahim has a a one-year program organized by the Fulbright Masters degree from the Graduate School of Social Commission and the American Political Science Science, Sussex University (United Kingdom) and Association in the U.S. Congress. He served as a a B.A. from the faculty of mass communication, Cairo Visiting Fellow for The Brookings Project on U.S. Policy University. III INTRODUCTION n the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, the a catalyst for reform. Civil society refers to the zone I relationship between the United States and the of voluntary associative life beyond family and clan Arab world has reached a low point.
    [Show full text]
  • Senegal Summary 2020
    Senegal - Threat Assessment - 2020 Page 1 of 10 Modern Slavery: The 2018 GSI Index: 46/51 1. Senegal African countries, with 43,000 modern day slaves, and an incidence of 2.9/1000 people, Section 1 - Executive Summary and a “B” response. US Trafficking in Persons gave Senegal a Tier 2 rating. Grey Lists: Senegal is not listed by FATF, or by the EU on their “Grey” lists. Senegal is, Sanctions & Terrorism: There are no sanctions however, listed by the US as a “Country of against the country. Senegal is a Tier 3 (lowest Primary Concern” in respect of ML & FC. threat) PPI 2019 (Proliferation) Index country with a “moderate ” control score of 370/1,300. National Risk Assessment: Senegal Senegal has a “very low” impact (score completed a National Risk Assessment, though 1.186/10) in the 2019 Global Terrorism Index. it appears not to be publicly available. Senegal is in US Country Reports on Terrorism. According to the GIABA report in 2018, the “NRA identified the most prevalent predicate Response & Resilience: FATF MER 4th round offences of money laundering which are: fraud, results by GIABA in 2018, were 43/100 for drug trafficking, migrants smuggling, “Technical Compliance” 40 Recommendations corruption, customs and tax offences,” and & 3/100 for “Effectiveness” 11 Outcomes. “high risk sectors are: money transfer; Senegal scored 6.04/10 for resilience (high), authorised foreign exchange; electronic ranked 5/54 for Africa in the OC Index. money; the hotel sector; the real estate sector; the legal and accounting professions.” Indices: Senegal scored 71/100, and rated “partly free” in the 2019 Freedom in the World Organised Crime: According to the OC Index, Index, and 58/100 for economic freedom Low Criminality - High Resilience.
    [Show full text]
  • Global Peace Index 2018: Measuring Peace in a Complex World, Sydney, June 2018
    Quantifying Peace and its Benefits The Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP) is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit think tank dedicated to shifting the world’s focus to peace as a positive, achievable, and tangible measure of human well-being and progress. IEP achieves its goals by developing new conceptual frameworks to define peacefulness; providing metrics for measuring peace; and uncovering the relationships between business, peace and prosperity as well as promoting a better understanding of the cultural, economic and political factors that create peace. IEP is headquartered in Sydney, with offices in New York, The Hague, Mexico City and Brussels. It works with a wide range of partners internationally and collaborates with intergovernmental organisations on measuring and communicating the economic value of peace. For more information visit www.economicsandpeace.org Please cite this report as: Institute for Economics & Peace. Global Peace Index 2018: Measuring Peace in a Complex World, Sydney, June 2018. Available from: http://visionofhumanity.org/reports (accessed Date Month Year). Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 2 Key Findings 4 RESULTS 5 Highlights 6 2018 Global Peace Index rankings 8 Regional overview 12 Improvements & deteriorations 19 TRENDS 23 Ten year trends in the Global Peace Index 26 100 year trends in peace 32 ECONOMIC IMPACT OF VIOLENCE 45 Results 46 The macroeconomic impact of peace 52 POSITIVE PEACE 59 What is Positive Peace? 60 Trends in Positive Peace 65 What precedes a change in peacefulness? 69 Positive Peace and the economy 73 APPENDICES 77 Appendix A: GPI Methodology 78 Appendix B: GPI indicator sources, definitions & scoring criteria 82 Appendix C: GPI Domain scores 90 Appendix D: Economic cost of violence 93 GLOBAL PEACE INDEX 2018 | 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This is the twelfth edition of the Global Peace Index Afghanistan, South Sudan, Iraq, and Somalia comprise (GPI), which ranks 163 independent states and the remaining least peaceful countries.
    [Show full text]
  • Evidence Synthesis Briefing Note
    EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS BRIEFING NOTE TOPIC: IMPACTS OF NIGHTTIME CURFEWS ON MOBILITY AND TRANSMISSION OF COVID-19 Information finalized as of April 14, 2021.a This Briefing Note was completed by the Research, Analysis, and Evaluation Branch (Ministry of Health) in collaboration with members of the COVID-19 Evidence Synthesis Network. Please refer to the Methods section for further information. Purpose: This document summarizes the scientific evidence and jurisdictional information on the impacts of nighttime curfews on population mobility and on the transmission of COVID-19, including when they are implemented with other non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs)/public health measures. Key Findings: • Impact of Curfews on Mobility: A curfew in Quebec was associated with an immediate reduction in nighttime mobility (31% relative reduction) compared to that of Ontario, which did not have a similar curfew. The government lockdown period in Thailand reduced distances that citizens traveled by more than 90%. Even without strict enforcement, curfews imposed in Kenya limited citizens’ needs for travel outside their neighbourhoods for. In France, curfews led to citizens’ increased mobility, suggesting that curfews should be imposed based on an analysis of the local situation. • Impact of Curfews on Transmission: Research suggests that curfews reduce COVID-19 transmission, particularly when they are implemented alongside other public health measures. In 54 countries and four epicenters of the COVID-19 pandemic that used stay-at-home orders, curfews, or lockdowns, the percent increase in daily new cases reduced to <5% within one month. However, two studies suggest that containment measures including curfews may not be effective at the household level (i.e., among family members).
    [Show full text]
  • AVAILABLE from a Price Index for Deflation of Academic R&D
    DOCUMENT RESUME ED 067 986 HE 003 406 TITLE A Price Index for Deflation of Academic R&D Expenditures. INSTITUTION National Science Foundation, Washington, D.C. REPORT NO NSF-72-310 PUB DATE 72 NOTE 38p. AVAILABLE FROMSuperintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing- Office, Washington, D.C. 20402 ($.25, 3800-00122) EDRS PRICE MF-$0.65 HC-$3.29 DESCRIPTORS Costs; Educational Finance; *Educational Research; Financial Problems; *Financial Support; *Higher Education; Research; Research and Development Centers; *Scientific Research; *Statistical Data ABSTRACT This study relates to price trends affecting research and development (R&D) activities at academic institutions. Part I of this report provides the overall results of the study with limited discussion of measurement concepts, methodology and limitations. Part II deals with price indexes and deflation-general concepts and methodology. Part III discusses methodology and data base and Part IV describes alternative computations and approaches. Statistical tables and charts are included.(Author/CS) cO Cr` CD :w U S DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH EDUCATION & WELFARE OFFICE OF EDUCATION THIS DOCUMENT HASBEEN REPRO DUCED EXACTLY ASRECEIVED FROM THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIG INATING IT POINTS OFVIEW OR OPIN IONS STATED DONOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT OFFICIALOFFICE OF EDU CATION POSITION OR POLICY RELATED PUBLICATIONS Title Number Price National Patterns of R&D Resources: Funds and Manpower in the United States, 1953-72 72-300 $0.50 Resources for Scientific Activities at Universi- ties and Colleges, 1971 72-315 In press Availability of Publications Those publications marked with a price should be obtained directly from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
    [Show full text]
  • Does Google Search Index Help Track and Predict Inflation Rate? an Exploratory Analysis for India
    Does Google Search Index Help Track and Predict Inflation Rate? An Exploratory Analysis for India By G. P. Samanta1 Abstract: The forward looking outlook or market expectations on inflation constitute valuable input to monetary policy, particularly in the ‘inflation targeting' regime. However, prediction or quantification of market expectations is a challenging task. The time lag in the publication of official statistics further aggravates the complexity of the issue. One way of dealing with non-availability of relevant data in real- time basis involves assessing the current or nowcasting the inflation based on a suitable model using past or present data on related variables. The forecast may be generated by extrapolating the model. Any error in the assessment of the current inflationary pressure thus may lead to erroneous forecasts if the latter is conditional upon the former. Market expectations may also be quantified by conducting suitable surveys. However, surveys are associated with substantial cost and resource implications, in addition to facing certain conceptual and operational challenges in terms of representativeness of the sample, estimation techniques, and so on. As a potential alternative to address this issue, recent literature is examining if the information content of the vast Google trend data generated through the volume of searches people make on the keyword ‘inflation' or a suitable combination of keywords. The empirical literature on the issue is mostly exploratory in nature and has reported a few promising results. Inspired by this line of works, we have examined if the search volume on the keywords ‘inflation’ or ‘price’in the Google search engine is useful to track and predict inflation rate in India.
    [Show full text]
  • How to Choose a Political Party
    FastFACTS How to Choose a Political Party When you sign up to vote, you can join a political party. A political party is a group of people who share the same ideas about how the government should be run and what it should do. They work together to win elections. You can also choose not to join any of the political parties and still be a voter. There is no cost to join a party. How to choose a political party: • Choose a political party that has the same general views you do. For example, some political parties think that government should No Party Preference do more for people. Others feel that government should make it If you do not want to register easier for people to do things for themselves. with a political party (you • If you do not want to join a political party, mark that box on your want to be “independent” voter registration form. This is called “no party preference.” Know of any political party), mark that if you do, you may have limited choices for party candidates in “I do not want to register Presidential primary elections. with a political party” on the registration form. In • You can change your political party registration at any time. Just fill California, you can still out a new voter registration form and check a different party box. vote for any candidate in The deadline to change your party is 15 days before the election. a primary election, except If you are not registered with a political party and for Presidential candidates.
    [Show full text]
  • Burgernomics: a Big Mac Guide to Purchasing Power Parity
    Burgernomics: A Big Mac™ Guide to Purchasing Power Parity Michael R. Pakko and Patricia S. Pollard ne of the foundations of international The attractive feature of the Big Mac as an indi- economics is the theory of purchasing cator of PPP is its uniform composition. With few power parity (PPP), which states that price exceptions, the component ingredients of the Big O Mac are the same everywhere around the globe. levels in any two countries should be identical after converting prices into a common currency. As a (See the boxed insert, “Two All Chicken Patties?”) theoretical proposition, PPP has long served as the For that reason, the Big Mac serves as a convenient basis for theories of international price determina- market basket of goods through which the purchas- tion and the conditions under which international ing power of different currencies can be compared. markets adjust to attain long-term equilibrium. As As with broader measures, however, the Big Mac an empirical matter, however, PPP has been a more standard often fails to meet the demanding tests of elusive concept. PPP. In this article, we review the fundamental theory Applications and empirical tests of PPP often of PPP and describe some of the reasons why it refer to a broad “market basket” of goods that is might not be expected to hold as a practical matter. intended to be representative of consumer spending Throughout, we use the Big Mac data as an illustra- patterns. For example, a data set known as the Penn tive example. In the process, we also demonstrate World Tables (PWT) constructs measures of PPP for the value of the Big Mac sandwich as a palatable countries around the world using benchmark sur- measure of PPP.
    [Show full text]
  • Peace, Propaganda, and the Promised Land
    1 MEDIA EDUCATION F O U N D A T I O N 60 Masonic St. Northampton, MA 01060 | TEL 800.897.0089 | [email protected] | www.mediaed.org Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land U.S. Media & the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Transcript (News clips) Narrator: The Israeli-Palestinian conflict dominates American news coverage of International issues. Given the news coverage is America's main source of information on the conflict, it becomes important to examine the stories the news media are telling us, and to ask the question, Does the news reflect the reality on the ground? (News clips) Prof. Noam Chomsky: The West Bank and the Gaza strip are under a military occupation. It's the longest military occupation in modern history. It's entering its 35th year. It's a harsh and brutal military occupation. It's extremely violent. All the time. Life is being made unlivable by the population. Gila Svirsky: We have what is now quite an oppressive regime in the occupied territories. Israeli's are lording it over Palestinians, usurping their territory, demolishing their homes, exerting a very severe form of military rule in order to remain there. And on the other hand, Palestinians are lashing back trying to throw off the yoke of oppression from the Israelis. Alisa Solomon: I spent a day traveling around Gaza with a man named Jabra Washa, who's from the Palestinian Center for Human Rights and he described the situation as complete economic and social suffocation. There's no economy, the unemployment is over 60% now. Crops can't move.
    [Show full text]
  • THE RISE of COMPETITIVE AUTHORITARIANISM Steven Levitsky and Lucan A
    Elections Without Democracy THE RISE OF COMPETITIVE AUTHORITARIANISM Steven Levitsky and Lucan A. Way Steven Levitsky is assistant professor of government and social studies at Harvard University. His Transforming Labor-Based Parties in Latin America is forthcoming from Cambridge University Press. Lucan A. Way is assistant professor of political science at Temple University and an academy scholar at the Academy for International and Area Studies at Harvard University. He is currently writing a book on the obstacles to authoritarian consolidation in the former Soviet Union. The post–Cold War world has been marked by the proliferation of hy- brid political regimes. In different ways, and to varying degrees, polities across much of Africa (Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbab- we), postcommunist Eurasia (Albania, Croatia, Russia, Serbia, Ukraine), Asia (Malaysia, Taiwan), and Latin America (Haiti, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru) combined democratic rules with authoritarian governance during the 1990s. Scholars often treated these regimes as incomplete or transi- tional forms of democracy. Yet in many cases these expectations (or hopes) proved overly optimistic. Particularly in Africa and the former Soviet Union, many regimes have either remained hybrid or moved in an authoritarian direction. It may therefore be time to stop thinking of these cases in terms of transitions to democracy and to begin thinking about the specific types of regimes they actually are. In recent years, many scholars have pointed to the importance of hybrid regimes. Indeed, recent academic writings have produced a vari- ety of labels for mixed cases, including not only “hybrid regime” but also “semidemocracy,” “virtual democracy,” “electoral democracy,” “pseudodemocracy,” “illiberal democracy,” “semi-authoritarianism,” “soft authoritarianism,” “electoral authoritarianism,” and Freedom House’s “Partly Free.”1 Yet much of this literature suffers from two important weaknesses.
    [Show full text]