Shared Societies and Peace: The ends and means of development

There is little doubt that peace brings more economic benefits to a society than violence or war. Yet the value of peace to the world economy is poorly understood, with the overwhelming emphasis within peace and conflict studies being placed on understanding the causes of war or violence. Recognizing this, the Institute for Economics of Peace undertook an extensive analysis of a range of indices, data sets and attitudinal surveys in conjunction with current thinking about what drives peace, resilience and conflict to investigate the characteristics of more peaceful societies. Results of the analysis suggested that eight mutually reinforcing and inter-dependent characteristics tended to be associated with peace. Countries that exhibited these characteristics also tended to be more resilient, have more stable business environments, experience stronger economic growth and achieve greater human development.