2010 Global Peace Index

Danielle Cave is a researcher in the Myer Foundation Melanesia Program.

The 2010 edition of the Global Peace Index (GPI), created by Australian philanthropist Steve Killelea, was launched 7 June in Washington. The full report can be accessed here or a snapshot viewed here.

In its fourth year, the 2010 GPI revealed some surprising results. The world has become less peaceful over this past year, with the financial crisis blamed for fueling greater unrest and crime. The largest decline in peace occurred in South Asia, driven by worsening security situations in the Philippines, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand. Australia's results were fairly mediocre, coming in as the 19th most peaceful country – beaten out by Japan (3), much of Scandinavia and Western Europe.

No surprise to see New Zealand coming in first as the world's most peaceful country, for the second year in a row. With the US ranking a lowly 85th, perhaps the launch of the 2011 GPI should be moved from Washington to Wellington; no doubt UNDP Administrator Helen Clark would be supportive.

What I found most shocking was the GPI colour-coded map, where red is used to signal those countries existing in a state of 'very low peace'. According to the map, that seems to translate to roughly one-third of the world.

Photo by Flickr user Matia M, used under a Creative Commons license.