Treść książki

Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
14
AccordingtoIEP
,Syria,IraqandAfghanistanaretheleastpeacefulcountries
intheworld.Meanwhile,LibyaandUkraineareamongthecountriesthathave
facedthelargestdeteriorationsintheirlevelsofdomesticpeaceandstability.
Table1.1showsthattheMiddleEastandNorthAfricaregionfellfrom8thto9th
acrosstheworldbetween2014and2015.Thiswasduetoincreasedcivilconflict,
violence,actsofterrorismandlossoflife.Correspondingly,theregion’sGPI
increasedfrom2.360to2.385,representinggreaterinstabilityasreflectedbythe
+0.025changeinindexpointsoverthepreviousyear.IEPmeasureschangein
respectofpeaceandstabilityacrossonehundredandsixty-twocountries,using
twenty-threeindicators.Thesearegroupedintothreecoreareas,whichrevealthe
positionofeachcountryandregionbasedonthelevelof,first,safetyandsecurity
insociety,second,thenumberofinternationalanddomesticconflictsand,third,
thedegreeofmilitarisation(IEP2015a)1.
Europe’sGPIfellfrom1.609in2014to1.566in2015.Theprecisechange
(–0.043)reflectsfallinginstabilityandgrowingpeace.Ofthirty-sixEuropean
countries,Icelandranksfirst,whileallScandinaviancountriesrankintheupper
halfofthetablewithhighorveryhighstatesofpeace.Twenty-fouroutofthe
thirty-sixcountriesobservedimprovementsintheGPIindexes,reflecting
increasedstability.TheUnitedKingdom,SpainandPolandachievedthelargest
increases,whileBulgaria,EstoniaandItalyobservedthelargestdeteriorationof
peaceandstability(IEP2015a).StrongGPIdownturnsalsocharacterisedthe
securitysituationinUkraine.ItisinthispartofEuropethatNATOfacesits
greatestchallengefollowingtheannexationofresource-richCrimeaaswellas
Russianmilitaryinterventionintotheeasternandmoreindustriallystrategicareas
ofthecountry(Unal2016).
TheMiddleEastandNorthAfricarevealtheworstGPIscores.Despite
improvementsinEgypt,AlgeriaandTunisia,theoverallsituationintheregionhas
deteriorated,especiallyinLibya,Yemen,IraqandSyria2.Theriseandcontinued
spreadofISIS(IslamicStateofIraqandSyria),alsoknownasISIL(IslamicState
ofIraqandtheLevant)isaWahhabi/Salafi,jihadist,extremistmilitantgroup
largelycomposedofSunniArabsfromIraqandSyria(McDowell&Perry2017).
ISIScontrolspartsofIraqandSyriaandisalsopresentinNigeria.Itisalso
supportedintwoofthesecountriesbytheterroristgroupBokoHaram.These
groupsfeatureprominentlyinTable1.2,whichpresentsthetenmostfatalterrorist
attacksin2014.
1PositivePeaceinaBesiegedNation:Syria’sStruggle.
2Thesefour,togetherwithAfghanistan,Nigeria,Pakistan,India,SomaliaandThailand,
endurethelargestnumberofterroristthreats.