Measuring Peace Paper Example

Introduction

Peace is the presence or state of ambiance and order. It is a state where there is no war and fear. Positive peace is defined as the structure or attitude that exists in a society. It is an environment that allows human beings to live with one another and excel since they can engage in different activities that add value to their lives. Positive peace can also be used to illustrate the progress taking place in a society based on the economic performance of an area (Carter, 2010). Positive peace is measured by the presence of a functional government and low corruption levels, equal distribution of resources and accessibility to data, as well as the relationship that a country maintains with the others.

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On the other hand, negative peace is defined as the absence of fear or violence activities (Galtung & Fischer, 2013). A country enjoying negative peace has no violence and there are no organized military activities. However, if a conflict arises, then arbitrators manage the condition with an aim of restoring peace. Negative peace aims at restoring the ways things were prior to the occurrence of conflicts. However, such solutions form the basis under which nations prepare for eventualities like war breaking either in the short-term or in the long-term. Negative peace limits the exercise of justice since it imposes that things are right, whereas there are unresolved issues which might trigger war (Brauer & Dunne, 2012). The existence of tension in an area becomes the breeding ground for war since warring parties are unsatisfied with the current status of things. It means that conflicts were unresolved and negativity still exists in the society. Negative peace leaves people living in constant fear and uncertainties about the future due to the non-violent status of an area.

Politically, peace is the absence of war in a country (Diehl, 2016b). The political stability status determines the status of peace in a country. A country where political war is frequent is unstable since people live in constant fear of violence erupting and disrupting their lives. On the other hand, economic peace is the ability to conduct business with ease and without external pressure negatively influencing the trade activities (Hoglund & Kovacs, 2010). Psychological peace is the positive wellbeing and feelings that one has despite the external forces that may interfere with the happiness of an individual. A religious definition of peace is based on the belief in a Supreme Force controlling the wellbeing of individuals.

History of Measuring Peace

The idea of measuring peace was birthed in the year 2007 by global experts in peace. The experts, liaising with institutes in the world that study and uphold peace, came up with ideas on ways to rank the status and quality of peace in different countries in the world. The Economist Intelligence Unit, which was one of the major sponsors of the GPI reports, partnered with the Institute for Economics and Peace to prepare the first statement describing the levels of peace in various nations in the world. The study provides information about countries articulating the violence status as well as the ability of economic activities to thrive. Steve Kilelea, an Australian is a brain towards coming up with a form of ranking the peace status of different countries. The reports are released annually and factors in the military presence in a country, the security and safety levels from the societies' perception, and the presence or absence of internal conflicts. The factors that determine the level of peace in a country are both internal and external since each nation's peace stability depends on the decisions that leaders in the area make as well as those of the neighbors (Barash & Webel, 2017). For instance, the militaries might be stationed in other countries to maintain peace. On the other hand, the societal perception towards the peace levels in a country shows whether the citizens of a nation feel secure in the region.

The subject of peace has attracted the attention of nations who have developed systems and strategies in the way they approach the sensitive topic (Diehl, 2016a). Leaders in the world rely on the GPI to understand the way societies work as well as initiate business and trade relationships with others. This is because countries rely on a peaceful environment to engage in projects that help stabilize the economy of nations. Further, the peace status of nations acts as a basis through which leaders in the country initiate changes (Peace, 2015). For instance, countries perceived to have low levels of peace have little or no visitors, which affects the tourism industry in such nations. The GPI report also indicates progress in nations that had been considered to have low levels of peace.

Importance of Measuring Peace and GPI

Measuring peace is important as it indicates the prevalence of peace in different countries in the world (Mac Ginty, 2013). Measuring peace examines the status of countries while drawing the economic value of the condition. It expounds whether tensions and conflicts exist in different parts of the world while examining the implications of such eventualities in a country. The Global Peace Index (GPI) is a report that summarizes the peace status of nations and regions (Index, 2016). The report groups the peace status at the region, national, and global level. It accesses the quality of life as well as environments in different regions ranking them based on the peace levels. As at 2018, the GPI report stated that Iceland, Norway, and Denmark have high safety and security levels while South Sudan, Iraq, and Afghanistan had the lowest. Further, the report shows the countries that have improved their peaceful levels with an aim of showing that its leaders are committed to creating a conducive environment where business and people can thrive. Brauer & Dunne (2012) state that people have different perceptions towards peace. This is because countries interpret peace and justice differently. Peace is important as it enables people to have their needs fulfilled in both the regional and national levels.

According to the Global Peace Index (2018), peace is measured on the prevalence of business activities, prosperity, and political status of a nation. This is because peace helps provide a conducive environment where people can live in harmony with each other, making it possible for them to conduct business (Index, 2018). Progress is reported in areas that have high levels of peace since citizens in such countries have an enabling environment where they can engage in income generating activities, all of which strengthen the economy.

The GPI report is important since it shows the trends taking place in the world with reference to peace (Bjarnegard & Melander, 2011). The trends are indicated using the different domains in the GPI which include the Safety and Security, Ongoing Conflict, and Militarization. The trends expound and explain the changes taking place in the different countries based on the leadership and government strategies to improve the nations. For instance, a country may have an increase in the armed conflicts due to the autocratic government leading to more conflicts internally, while another may a democratic leadership, which may trigger high levels of militarism (Igbuzor, 2011). The breakdown of the peaceful levels in countries enable the governments to make critical decisions in rebuilding a nation to achieve high levels in the next report. In as much as rebuilding peace can take many years, the GPI report highlights the efforts that many countries make annually (Barash, 2017). The GPI report also highlights that the governments of different countries strive to ensure that peace prevails despite the risk of being targeted by terrorists. For instance, the 2018 GPI report indicates that terrorist acts have increased over the past ten years from less than 9,000 to more than 30,000 in the world.

Measuring peace is relevant as it indicates the economic effect of violence on the regional and global economy (Index, 2012). The presence or absence of peace in a country has a high probability of affecting the economic status of the neighboring nations. This is because countries engage in regional trade, meaning that if one nation is engaging in violent activities, then the flow of goods and services if affected. Further, the internal and external security status of a country is affected by the presence of war in an area (Mac Ginty, 2016). The affect-effects of war are also felt in countries that engage in violent activities as well as the neighboring nations since it takes time to restore the economic status of a region (Index, 2014). For instance, it may take time for the country to establish trade relationships. Another economic effect of violence is based on the large amounts of the national budget that countries engaging in wars have to spend per year. If a country was in peace, the funds allocated to funding the violence would be used in developing the nation's economy.

Critiques of the Global Peace Index

The Global Peace Index (GPI) has been criticized for its reliability based on different arguments. The GPI report is criticized since it is hard to quantify peace or define the way different countries in the world interpret peace. Further, determining the status and level of peace in a country is dependent on different variables like the economic and political status of the nation (Estes, 2014). Further, the report released about the peaceful status of a country may change without notice. For instance, a country that had acts of violence may stop, rendering it peaceful while another that was considered peaceful may have war erupting (Megoran, 2011). Therefore, the change in variables affecting peace in a country may reflect a country as having more or less peace.

One of the critiques of GPI is that it does not indicate the position that countries have towards violence against children and women (Backer, Bhavnani, & Huth, 2016). Women and children are some of the vulnerable groups in the world. They are most affected by the absence of peace in an area since their husbands and fathers are expected to take part in military activities. Women are expected to fend for their children and lead families without the help of their male counterparts. Further, a country might have high levels of peace but the women might not have equal opportunities like the men. In addition, violence towards women in marriages might be high in some countries (Barash, (2017). For instance, in some countries, women and children are still exposed to outdated cultural practices like female genital mutilation and early marriages, while in some nations, the killing of female children is highly practiced due to the attitude attached to male kids.

The Philippines President, Duterte, criticized the GPI report released in 2017 by stating that the analysts who collected data from the country failed to look at the developments that had taken place in the country due to increased peace levels. A justification for the poor rating that the country had received was due to the locals' perceptions and arguments towards their security levels. Most stated that the security levels in most urban and rural areas were low and thousands of people had lost their lives. The President critiqued the report by stating that it was characterized by political influences which aimed at painting a bad image of the country to the world. This illustrates that most leaders or governments perceive the GPI report as wrong if it fails to reflect the status of the country in light of what the political leaders think of their nations. However, analysts working with the GPI rely on different metrics like the economic status of the locals when drawing conclusions abo...