The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), which produces the index, said Yemen was the “standout example” of a breakdown of peace in the Middle East that has seen the world as a whole become a more risky place in 2016 than at any point in the past decade.
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Iceland is once again at the top of the Global Peace Index, as the world overall during the past 10 years has become more violent. Syria was the least peaceful, followed by South Sudan, Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia.
Already ranked the least peaceful region in the 2015 report, it suffered the most marked deterioration in peace this year as the civil wars in Syria and Yemen deepened and led to increased external intervention and a growing number of refugees, the index said.
“This is approximately equivalent to the size of world food exports”, said IEP founder and executive chairman Steve Killelea.
The worsening conflict in the Middle East, the lack of a solution to the refugee crisis and an increase in deaths from major terrorist incidents have all contributed to the world being less peaceful in 2016 than it was in 2015.
Achieving sustainable peace is paramount, the report notes, as “international cooperation on an unprecedented scale” is needed to address the “unparalleled challenges” facing the world including “climate change, decreasing biodiversity, increasing migration, and over-population”. The UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 16, which focuses on peace, justice and strong institutions is critical to focusing the worldwide community on the goal of attaining a more peaceful world. Deaths from such attacks in Europe have more than doubled over the last five years. The largest improvement since past year occurred in Central America and the Caribbean, while South America also made progress in its levels of peacefulness.
Terrorism increased nine-fold in the past decade, with 77 countries deteriorating with the largest deterioration recorded in the Middle East. Afghanistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and India deteriorated; while Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Pakistan improved modestly. The country is consumed by violence from both ISIS and its ongoing civil war, in which estimates say almost half a million people have been killed since it began in 2011. Internal security concerns were heightened in Bangladesh and Nepal owing to anti-government protests.
It based that figure on an “aggregation of costs related to violence, armed conflict and spending on military and internal security services”.
The report also had a warning. For more information, go to www.visionofhumanity.org. The report mentions terrorism as playing a role in some of the documented violence – although it’s not always clear when terrorism is at the root of the violence, or when it is simply a justification for state militarism.
IEP, which conducted the study of the GPI, added that Malaysia performs in the best band for neighbouring country relations.
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Compared to past year, the highest rise in the Global Peace Index demonstrated Panama (49th), Thailand (125th), Sri Lanka (97th), South Africa (126th) and Mauritania (123rd place).
