To achieve peace must wars be waged? The most recent Global Peace Index calculation confirmed that the economic impact from decline in this area across the world was 13.6 billion (millions and millions) dollars in 2015.
Cira Rodríguez César
The report, prepared by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), confirmed that the world has turned into a less peaceful place, due to an increase in terrorism, violence and political instability.
Updated data on the economic impact of this phenomenon is equivalent to 13.3% of gross world product and around 11 times the size of direct international foreign investment.
Over the last 10 years the economic impact of violence amounted to 137 trillion, a number higher than global GDP in 2015, according to data provided by the organisation.
According to the IEP, the Middle East and Africa remained the least peaceful areas of the world; a consequence of intensified regional conflicts influencing world peace.
The violence in this part of the world is such that, when considered separately, on average, world peace levels are improving; three out of the five largest incidents were in that region, in Yemen, Libya and Bahrein.
Broaching this subject, founder and executive president of IEP, Steve Killelea, believes that, while international conflicts in the Middle East and Africa are deeply entrenched, the number of external parties becoming involved are on the rise, and the possibility of indirect and subsidiary wars between nation states is increasing.
On that basis, Killelea illustrated how various non-state parties are currently involved in the war in Syria, which is also advancing towards countries such as Yemen.
He added that there is currently a wider conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran, increasing the presence of the United States and Russia.
The Global Peace Index calculation also highlights noticeable and growing inequality in world peace levels, which creates an increasingly larger gap between countries with varying levels of calm.
This indicator shows that addressing the global disparity of peace and successfully reducing the economic impact of violence by 10% would lead to a dividend of 1.360 billion dollars, approximately equivalent to the overall volume of global food exports.
The most recent edition of the Global Peace Index analysed 23 areas, including current national and international conflicts, security and prevention in society, as well as the level of militarisation in 163 countries and territories. It also included trends in peace and violence over the last decade.
No less newsworthy was an alert on the number of refugees and displaced individuals, which has significantly increased over the last 10 years, duplicating and reaching 60 million people between 2007 and 2016, equivalent to almost 1% of the global population.
There is nowhere peaceful
The tenth edition of the Global Peace Index shows noticeable and growing inequality at worldwide levels, which “creates an increasingly larger gap between countries with varying levels of calm” according to the IEP. Other relevant data indicates that, while 81 nations were more peaceful, deterioration escalated in a further 79, meaning that peace decreased at a faster pace than the previous year.
It certainly does not need to be like this if global military spending indeed approaches 1.7 billion (millions and millions) of dollars, equivalent to 2.6% of global GDP.
On this subject Steve Killelea warned of changes that some conflicts in the Middle East are experiencing: “En the region they are increasingly entrenched, external parties get involved more and more and the possibility of a war of representatives or indirect war between nation states continues to increase”, a direct allusion to the role of various governments in the area.
It also meant that the rise of internationalisation of internal conflicts coincides with UN peacekeeping funds, reaching its highest figure in 2016. (PL)
Photos: Pixabay – (Translated by Abaigh Wheatley – email: abaighwheatley@hotmail.co.uk)
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