No Surprise – Peace And Corruption Correlate

Who knew there was such a thing called the “Global Peace Index,” but here it is. Published by The Institute for Economics & Peace, the GPI  recognizes that “peace is notoriously difficult to define.” Nevertheless, the methodology is described as follows: “The simplest way of approaching it is in terms of the harmony achieved by the absence of violence or the fear of violence, which has been described as Negative Peace. Negative Peace is a complement to Positive Peace which is defined as the attitudes, institutions and structures that create and sustain peaceful societies.”

Got it.

As highlighted below, not surprisingly there is a correlation between a country’s GPI ranking and its Corruption Perception Index rating (another mostly meaningless metric – see here).

The below chart has two segments.  The left segment lists the countries at the top of the GPI (lots of peace) and a country’s associated “corruption perceptions index” score.  The right segment lists the countries at the bottom of the GPI (not so much peace) and a country’s associated “corruption perceptions index” score.

In case you are wondering, the United States was #121 on the GPI  – sandwiched between Azerbaijan and Burkina Faso. Factors influencing the U.S.’s low GPI score was military expenditures and civil unrest including “protests focusing on police violence, gun violence, and environmental issues.” Never mind that some would call these factors peace through strength or exercising personal liberties.