Iran Ranks 104 out of 149 in Global Peace Index 2010

The results of the Global Peace Index (GPI) for 2010 suggest that the world has become slightly less peaceful in the past year.

The GPI, which gauges ongoing domestic and international conflict, safety and security in society and militarization in 149 countries, registered overall increases in several indicators, including the likelihood of violent demonstrations and perceptions of criminality. In some nations, an intensification of conflicts and growing instability appears to be linked to the global economic downturn in late 2008 and early 2009.

This is the fourth edition of the Global Peace Index (GPI). It has been expanded to rank 149 independent states and updated with the latest-available figures and information for 2008-09. The index is composed of 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators from respected sources, which combine internal and external factors ranging from a nation’s level of military expenditure to its relations with neighboring countries and the level of respect for human rights.

Global peace index 2010 world map

The average score for the countries surveyed in the 2010 GPI is 2.02 (based on a 1-5 scale), a slight rise (less at peace) compared with last year, when the average stood at 1.964.

The UN defined a culture of peace as involving values, attitudes and behaviors that:

• Reject violence

• Endeavor to prevent conflicts by addressing root causes

• Aim at solving problems through dialogue and negotiation

Measures of ongoing domestic and international conflict

• Number of external and internal conflicts fought: 2003-08

• Estimated number of deaths from organized conflict (external)

• Number of deaths from organized conflict (internal)

• Level of organized conflict (internal)

• Relations with neighboring countries

Measures of societal safety and security

• Perceptions of criminality in society

• Number of refugees and displaced people as a percentage of the population

• Political instability

• Level of respect for human rights (Political Terror Scale)

• Potential for terrorist acts

• Number of homicides per 100,000 people

• Level of violent crime

• Likelihood of violent demonstrations

• Number of jailed population per 100,000 people

• Number of internal security officers and police per 100,000 people

Measures of militarization

• Military expenditure as a percentage of GDP

• Number of armed services personnel per 100,000 people

• Volume of transfers (imports) of major conventional weapons per 100,000 people

• Volume of transfers (exports) of major conventional weapons per 100,000 people

• Budget support for UN peacekeeping missions: percentage of outstanding payments versus annual assessment to the budget of the current peacekeeping missions

• Aggregate number of heavy weapons per 100,000 people

• Ease of access to small arms and light weapons

• Military capability/sophistication

Weighting the index

1) a measure of how at peace internally a country is;

2) a measure of how at peace externally a country is (its state of peace beyond its borders).

Comparison of Iran, Israel, Iraq and India

A lower score indicates a more peaceful country

Peace, Wealth and Human Potential

The word “Peace” can be seen as a proxy for describing an inter-related set of structures. These structures and attitudes are:

• Well-functioning government

• Sound business environment

• Respectful of human rights and tolerance

• Good relations with neighbouring states

• High levels of freedom of information

• The acceptance of others

• High participation rates in primary and secondary education

• Low levels of corruption

• Equitable sharing of resources

Source:

Vision of Humanity

2010 GPI Results Report in PDF

2010 GPI Discussion Paper in PDF

email info@visionofhumanity.org