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INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMICS AND PEACE GLOBAL PEACE INDEX 2012 1 THE INStitUTE FOR ECONOMICS AND PEACE GLOBAL QUANTIFYING PEACE AND ITS BENEFITS PEACE INDEX The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) is an 2012 independent, non-partisan, non-profit research organization 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 This is the sixth edition of the Global Peace Index peaceful environments. conceptual frameworks to define peacefulness; (GPI), which ranks nations according to their level In the spirit of deepening knowledge and providing metrics for measurement; uncovering the of peacefulness. It is composed of 23 qualitative and understanding of the relative peacefulness of nations, relationship between peace, business and prosperity; quantitative indicators from highly respected sources, IEP has developed the first known attempt to quantify and by promoting a better understanding of the which gauge three broad themes: the level of safety measures of positive peace through the Positive Peace cultural, economic and political factors that drive and security in society; the extent of domestic or Index (PPI). This study measures the strength of the peacefulness. international conflict; and the degree of militarisation. attitudes, institutions, and structures within nations IEP has offices in Sydney, New York, and The 2012 GPI has been expanded to rank 158 which sustain peace. This provides a framework Washington, D.C. It works with a wide range of independent states and updated with the latest to determine a nation’s institutional capacity and partners internationally and collaborates with available figures and information. resilience to fundamentally create and maintain a intergovernmental organizations on measuring and This year’s report is divided into three main peaceful society. communicating the economic value of peace. sections; the first is the methodology, results and findings from the 2012 index, the second is an analysis of trends in peacefulness since the inception of the GPI in 2007, and the final section is IEP’s first For more information: attempt at defining a Positive Peace Index. www.economicsandpeace.org The methodology, results and findings section www.visionofhumanity.org provides highlights for the ten most and least peaceful countries, as well as for the five most improved and five most deteriorated over the one-year period. Indicator sources and weights are provided along with explanation on the changes to the methodology. The trends in peacefulness analysis tracks key global trends in peace over the past six years and utilises the GPI’s comprehensive 23 indicator dataset to understand nuanced changes in the many multidimensional aspects of peace. The data has been evaluated against many other socio-economic factors to understand key correlations and associations with 2 3 CONTENTS CONTENTS METHODOLOGY, RiSERS AND FALLERS 52 RESULTS INDICATOR TRENDS 52 AND FINDINGS CORRELAtiON TRENDS 56 HIGHLIGHTS 7 Corruption 58 2012 GLOBAL PEACE INDEX RANKINGS 8 GDP per capita 60 CONSTRUCtiNG THE INDEX 10 QUINtiLE ANALYSIS 63 Measuring states of peace 10 The research team 10 POSITIVE The indicators 11 PEACE INDEX Changes to the methodology 2012 12 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 67 ANALYSIS OF THE RESULTS 13 INTRODUCtiON 69 Regional overview 13 WHY A POSitiVE PEACE INDEX? 70 The ten countries most at peace 18 METHODOLOGY 71 The ten countries least at peace 23 RESULTS 80 Risers and fallers 29 POSitiVE PEACE GAP 81 Top-five national improvements in peacefulness 29 POSitiVE PEACE DEFICit CASE STUDY 90 Top-five national deteriorations in peacefulness 31 93 METHODOLOGICAL NOTES 34 POSitiVE PEACE BY REGION 101 Weighting the Index 34 POSitiVE PEACE BY INCOME GROUP Qualitative scoring 35 POSitiVE PEACE BY GOVERNMENT TYPE 102 POSitiVE PEACE BY INDICATOR DOMAIN 104 TRENDS IN TRENDS IN INDIVIDUAL POSitiVE PEACE INDICATORS 107 PEACEFULNESS CONCLUSION 109 HIGHLIGHTS 37 ANNEX A TRENDS IN PEACEFULNESS FROM 2009-2012 38 GPI INDICATOR SOURCES, DEFINitiONS AND SCORING CRITERIA 110 METHODOLOGY OF TREND ANALYSIS 40 TWENTY YEAR TRENDS 40 ANNEX B OVERALL TREND 45 SOCIO - ECONOMIC FACTORS 122 By region 45 REFERENCES 127 Sub-Saharan Africa 46 ENDNOTES 128 By government type 50 INTERNAL PEACEFULNESS 51 4 5 HIGHLIGHTS THE MAIN DEVELOPMENTS IN 2012 deteriorations in several measures of militarisation. Sri Lanka experienced the greatest improvement in its Calculating the 2012 Global Peace Index (GPI) by overall peacefulness, following the ending of decades examining 23 indicators across 158 countries reveals of civil war. that the world has become slightly more peaceful War-ravaged Somalia remains the country least in the past year. This follows two consecutive years at peace in 2012 for the second successive year, when an overall decline in peacefulness was observed; with ongoing conflict in several regions (with the many countries experienced growing instability and notable exception of Somaliland). Afghanistan’s score heightened disharmony linked to rapid rises in food, deteriorated and it dropped to the second-lowest METHODOLOGY fuel, and commodity prices and the global economic position. Syria’s descent into civil war caused its score downturn. to deteriorate by the largest margin and it dropped by There were improvements in the overall scores 31 places, to 147th position. RESULTS across all regions, apart from the Middle East and Among the GPI indicators, ‘Level of perceived North Africa, where many countries experienced criminality in society’ registered the largest year-on- & FINDINGS waves of uprisings, protests and revolutions, sparked year change from the 2011 GPI, showing a substantial by the Arab Spring. GPI scores deteriorated most deterioration. The five indicators showing the most sharply in Syria, Egypt and Tunisia. The Asia- significant year-on-year deterioration were all Pacific region experienced the largest average rise in measures of the security situation and reflected the peacefulness, with the most significant gains in Sri upheaval and turmoil that has rippled across the Arab Lanka, Bhutan, Philippines and Nepal. Sub-Saharan world and beyond. The Political Terror Scale showed the greatest SYRIA’s descent intO CIVIL WAR CAUSED improvement and there were gains in several ITS SCORE TO DETERIORATE BY THE LARGEST indicators of militarisation as defence budgets were MARGIN AND IT DROPPED BY 31 PLACES, TO squeezed. 147TH POSITION. Africa became slightly more peaceful, with notable improvements in Zimbabwe, Madagascar and Gabon and, for the first time since the GPI was launched in 2007, it is not the least peaceful region—that dubious honour falls to the Middle East and North Africa this year. Iceland is, for the second successive year, the country most at peace, followed by Denmark and New Zealand. Small, stable democracies again dominate the top ten. Qatar is the highest-placed Middle-Eastern country (and non-democracy), in 12th position. Bhutan moved into the top 20 for the first time, mainly as a result of easing tensions surrounding ethnic Nepali refugees. Norway dropped out of the top ten to 18th position, the result of the violent attack by Anders Breivik in July 2011, killing 77 and injuring more than 300. Norway also saw 6 7 2012 GLOBAL PEACE INDEX RANKINGS 1.644 MOST PEACEFUL 2 2.111 LEAST PEACEFUL 3 NO DATA 2.579 4 RANK COUNTRY SCORE RANK COUNTRY SCORE 3.046 1 Iceland 1.113 29 United Kingdom 1.609 56 Djibouti 1.881 85 Ecuador 2.028 109 Belarus 2.208 137 Ethiopia 2.504 2 Denmark 1.239 30 Chile 1.616 58 Mongolia 1.884 85 Swaziland 2.028 110 Uzbekistan 2.219 138 Burundi 2.524 2 New Zealand 1.239 31 Botswana 1.621 59 Oman 1.887 87 Equatorial Guinea 2.039 111 Egypt 2.220 139 Myanmar 2.525 5 4 Canada 1.317 32 Romania 1.627 60 Malawi 1.894 88 United States of 111 El Salvador 2.220 140 Zimbabwe 2.538 5 Japan 1.326 33 Uruguay 1.628 61 Panama 1.899 America 2.058 113 Jamaica 2.222 141 Georgia 2.541 89 6 Austria 1.328 34 Vietnam 1.641 62 Jordan 1.905 China 2.061 114 Benin 2.231 142 India 2.549 90 Dominican 6 Ireland 1.328 35 Croatia 1.648 63 Indonesia 1.913 115 Armenia 2.238 143 Yemen 2.601 Republic 2.068 8 Slovenia 1.330 36 Costa Rica 1.659 64 Serbia 1.920 116 Niger 2.241 144 Colombia 2.625 3.514 91 Bangladesh 2.071 9 Finland 1.348 37 Laos 1.662 65 Bosnia and 117 Turkmenistan 2.242 145 Chad 2.671 92 Guinea 2.073 10 Switzerland 1.349 38 Italy 1.690 Herzegovina 1.923 118 Bahrain 2.247 146 Nigeria 2.801 93 Papua New 11 39 Bulgaria 1.699 66 Albania 1.927 119 Rwanda 2.250 147 Libya 2.830 Belgium 1.376 Guinea 2.076 40 France 1.710 66 Moldova 1.927 120 147 12 Qatar 1.395 94 Trinidad and Kenya 2.252 Syria 2.830 41 68 Macedonia (FYR) 1.935 13 Czech Republic 1.396 Estonia 1.715 Tobago 2.082 121 Algeria 2.255 149 Pakistan 2.833 42 69 Guyana 1.937 14 Sweden 1.419 South Korea 1.734 95 Angola 2.105 122 Eritrea 2.264 150 Israel 2.842 43 70 Cuba 1.951 15 Germany 1.424 Lithuania 1.741 95 Guinea-Bissau 2.105 123 Venezuela 2.278 151 Central African 44 71 Ukraine 1.953 Republic 2.872 16 Portugal 1.470 Argentina 1.763 97 Cameroon 2.113 124 Guatemala 2.287 45 72 Tunisia 1.955 152 North Korea 2.932 17 Hungary 1.476 Latvia 1.774 98 Uganda 2.121 125 Mauritania 2.301 46 United Arab 73 Cyprus 1.957 153 Russia 2.938 18 Norway 1.480 99 Madagascar 2.124 126 Thailand 2.303 Emirates 1.785 74 Gambia 1.961 154 Democratic 19 Bhutan 1.481 99 Tajikistan 2.124 127 South Africa 2.321 47 Kuwait 1.792 75 Gabon 1.972 Republic of the 20 Malaysia 1.485 101 Liberia