Positive Peace is good – it’s associated with better economic outcomes, measures of wellbeing, levels of gender equality, and environmental performance

In addition to the absence of violence, Positive Peace is also associated with many other societal characteristics that are considered desirable, including better economic outcomes, measures of wellbeing, levels of gender equality and environmental performance. IEP defines Positive Peace as the “attitudes, institutions and structures which create and sustain peaceful societies.” By providing a comprehensive taxonomy that breaks down into eight distinct but interdependent pillars, Positive Peace serves to facilitate the work of policymakers. It does so by identifying what makes some countries more peaceful than others, thereby highlighting why certain countries experience higher levels of violence - or political instability more generally. Positive Peace can also be used to define the risk of future falls in peace, thereby providing better targeting for peacebuilding efforts. Positive Peace has been empirically derived by IEP via the statistical analysis of thousands of cross-country measures of economic and social progress to determine what factors have a statistically significant association with the absence of violence. It is measured by the Positive Peace Index (PPI) which consists of 24 qualitative and quantitative indicators that capture the eight factors of Positive Peace. Covering 162 countries, or 99.5% of the world’s population the PPI provides a baseline measure of the effectiveness of a country’s capabilities to build and maintain peace. It also represents a tangible metric for policymakers, researchers and corporations to use for effective monitoring and evaluation purposes. One of Positive Peace’s value-adds is its applicability for empirically measuring a country’s resilience, or ability to absorb and recover from shocks. It can also be used to measure fragility and to help predict the likelihood of conflict, violence and instability. The eight factors of Positive Peace represent a complex set of interdependent social dynamics and as such are best thought of systemically. As an example, high levels of human capital can act as a driver of economic growth, while a strong business environment can be a driver of improved education. Analysis of corruption demonstrates that 80 per cent of countries scoring poorly in low levels of corruption also score poorly in high levels of human capital, highlighting the interconnected nature of the factors.