Global peace deteriorated by 3% in the last year according to the 2022 Global Peace Index (GPI), marking the lowest level of peace since the inception of the index in 2008.
The GPI was developed by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), an independent non-profit think tank. The index measures 163 countries and covers 99.7% of the world’s population. It utilizes 23 indicators that measure areas of safety and security, ongoing domestic and international conflict, and militarization. Of these 23 indicators, 13 deteriorated and only 10 improved in 2022. This data reveals the impacts of the recent war in Ukraine and countries’ efforts to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2022 Index was recorded in March, obtaining data from just after one month of the war in Ukraine. This data had significant impacts on the index’s findings. Russia and Eurasia found the largest regional deterioration in peace, followed by North America. The largest deteriorations in the 23 indicators were found in areas of political instability and terror, refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs), and relations with neighboring countries. According to Michael Collins, executive director of the IEP, these results can be attributed to an overall global deterioration of measures of resilience, increases in corruption and political fractionalization, in addition to the impacts of the war in Ukraine.
According to the report, the current war in Ukraine has “already triggered fundamental changes in defense postures and policies, supply chains, and food security.” NATO countries pledged to increase defense spending, international sanctions pressured exports and consequently impacted food insecurity in regions such as sub-Saharan Africa, and changing utilization of social media and intelligence are changing warfare.
Other major trends noted in the 2022 report include increased violent demonstrations and rising inequality. Of all the index’s indicators, violent demonstrations marked the largest deterioration since 2008, having worsened by 49% in the past 14 years. On the other hand, indicators including “terrorism impact, nuclear and heavy weapons, deaths from internal conflict, military expenditure, incarceration rates, and perceptions of criminality” found substantial improvements. Militarization is the only GPI measurement that has improved in the past decade, with a declining record of military spending and nuclear and heavy weapons around the globe, although this measurement is set to deteriorate following the war in Ukraine.
At a recent discussion organized by the Alliance for Peacebuilding to mark the release of the 2022 report, a number of experts gathered to share their insights.
Michael Collins from IEP pointed out that there is a correlation between the level of terrorism and large-scale conflict. He recommends the United States reconsider its involvement in conflict zones, based on previous U.S. involvement and large-scale counterterrorism efforts in countries such as Afghanistan. “Counterterrorism efforts… its effects are very temporary. These broader efforts to counter violent extremism, more sustainable ones, more holistic ones, more community-driven ones… are our key to success in that particular area.”
Prabha Sankaranarayan, CEO of Mediators Beyond Borders, agreed with this point. “We have to get our heads out of militaristic security sector spending and the idea that if you want peace, prepare for war. We have got to give up these old axioms because we have to shift into 21st-century peacebuilding practices.”
Mike Jobbins from Search for Common Ground added that if the U.S. invested “half of 1% of its defense budget” it could be used for supporting local peacebuilding measures and increasing communal agency. He argued that the U.S. should “adopt a more holistic approach to what drives security and who is a security actor.”
Although this year’s results are pessimistic, peace experts maintain the importance of remaining optimistic about the GPI indicators that actually did improve, and for future opportunities for peacebuilding.
Tia Savarese
Tia Savarese is a recent graduate of the George Washington University with a Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs with concentrations in Conflict Resolution and Security Policy and a minor in Spanish. She serves as the Commissioning Editor and Social Media Manager for Peace News Network while residing in Washington, DC. Before joining PNN, she interned for a communication firm, a think tank, and the federal government.
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