The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) is a global think tank headquartered in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

with branches in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, Mexico City and

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. IEP studies the relationship between peace, business, and prosperity, and seeks to promote understanding of the cultural, economic, and political factors that drive peacefulness. It is a registered Australian charity and works in partnership with the

Aspen Institute The Aspen Institute is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1949 as the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies. The institute's stated aim is the realization of "a free, just, and equitable society" through seminars, policy programs ...

, Economists for Peace and Security the

United Nations Global Compact The United Nations Global Compact is a non-binding United Nations pact to encourage businesses and firms worldwide to adopt sustainable and socially responsible policies, and to report on their implementation. The UN Global Compact is a princi ...

Center for Strategic and International Studies The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is an American think tank based in Washington, D.C. CSIS was founded as the Center for Strategic and International Studies of Georgetown University in 1962. The center conducts policy ...

and

Cranfield University , mottoeng = After clouds light , established = 1946 - College of Aeronautics 1969 - Cranfield Institute of Technology (gained university status by royal charter) 1993 - Cranfield University (adopted current name) , type = Public research uni ...

. It also collaborates with the

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate ...

, the

Commonwealth Secretariat The Commonwealth Secretariat is the main intergovernmental agency and central institution of the Commonwealth of Nations. It is responsible for facilitating co-operation between members; organising meetings, including the Commonwealth Heads o ...

UNDP The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...

and UN Peacebuilding Support Office. It is chaired by technology entrepreneur

Steve Killelea Stephen Killelea AM is an Australian IT entrepreneur and founder of the Institute for Economics and Peace, a global think tank. Career In August 1988, Killelea formed the Australian company IR, which was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange ...

founder of IR.

Global Peace Index

The main index produced by IEP is the

Global Peace Index Global Peace Index (GPI) is a report produced by the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP) which measures the relative position of nations' and regions' peacefulness. The GPI ranks 163 independent states and territories (collectively accountin ...

(GPI), a widely cited benchmark measuring peace. The GPI has been incorporated into the

Stockholm International Peace Research Institute Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) is an international institute based in Stockholm. It was founded in 1966 and provides data, analysis and recommendations for armed conflict, military expenditure and arms trade as well ...

's Year Book (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2014), and was analyzed by the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

's World Development Report 2011 team. The data for the Global Peace Index is collected and collated partly by the

Economist Intelligence Unit The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) is the research and analysis division of the Economist Group, providing forecasting and advisory services through research and analysis, such as monthly country reports, five-year country economic forecasts, ...

(EIU), the research and analysis arm of the Economist Group, and the methodology is informed and reviewed by an international panel of peace and statistics experts. The GPI is released annually. In addition, the GPI was the empirical basis for the Symposium of Peaceful Nations, a three-day conference hosted in November 2009 to honor the most peaceful countries in each of nine regions of the world at which

Helen Clark Helen Elizabeth Clark (born 26 February 1950) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 37th prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008, and was the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2017. She was ...

, UNDP Administrator, delivered the keynote address. The GPI is used by the UN and

. The 9th annual Global Peace Index launched in 2015 includes 162 countries.

National Peace Indices

IEP launched a series of National Peace Indices beginning with the

United States Peace Index The United States Peace Index (USPI) is a measurement of American States and cities by their peacefulness. Created by the Institute for Economics and Peace, the creators of the Global Peace Index, it is said to be the first in a series of Nationa ...

(USPI) in April 2011, The USPI ranks each state in the US by peacefulness and, unlike the GPI, uses only five indicators: incarceration rate, the number of police officers, the number of homicides, the availability of small arms, and the number of violent crimes. Maine is the most peaceful state, while Louisiana is the least peaceful. The Mexico Peace Index (

MPI MPI or Mpi may refer to: Science and technology Biology and medicine * Magnetic particle imaging, an emerging non-invasive tomographic technique * Myocardial perfusion imaging, a nuclear medicine procedure that illustrates the function of the hear ...

) is the latest in the series of National Peace Indices. There have been two editions of the MPI to date, the first published in 2013 and most recently in 2015. The MPI uses seven indicators to gauge the level of peace in the 32 Mexican states from 2003 to 2014. The indicators are: homicide rates, violent crimes, weapons crime, incarceration, police funding, efficiency of the justice system, and the level of organized crime. Guanajuato, Michoacan, Sinaloa, Morelos and Guerrero are the least peaceful cities while Hidalgo, Yucatán and Querétaro are the most peaceful. Mexico was found to be the 6th largest spender on violence containment in the world. It is estimated that it has cost the national economy 17% of their GDP to contain and manage the effects of direct and indirect violence.

Global Terrorism Index

The Global Terrorism Index ( GTI) is an attempt to systematically rank nations according to terrorist activity. Two editions have been released to date (2012 and 2014) and a third edition is expected in late 2015. According to reports, in the decade following 11 September 2001 the number of terrorist attacks each year has quadrupled. The GTI also indicates an increase of 61% in deaths from terrorism from 2012 to 2013, largely due to the civil war in Syria and the spill-over effects in the region. In 2013, 82% of those who died in terrorist attacks were in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria, and Syria.

Building Blocks of Peace

The IEP launched its education program with the release of Building Blocks of Peace, a 4-module curriculum resource that offers step-by-step guidance for high school teachers to introduce "a fresh perspective to the issues surrounds global peace" into the classroom. Presented at both regional and national conferences, the Building Blocks of Peace materials are an addition to the resources available to teachers dedicated to educating global citizens.

Global Peace Report

On 26 October 2010, The Institute for Economics and Peace and Media Tenor released "Measuring Peace in the Media", the first study that takes a fact-based approach into understanding the accuracy of international television networks’ coverage of peace, violence and conflict. The results show broad inconsistencies across geographies and networks, with US broadcasters much more focused on violence and conflict than their European and Middle Eastern counterparts. The study analyzed 37 TV news and current affairs programs from 23 networks in 15 countries* and then cross-referenced this with the Global Peace Index which measures the levels of peace and violence in 149 countries. BBC 2 Newsnight and ZDF Heute Journal (Germany) were found to be the programs whose editorial policies aligned their coverage most closely with the rankings of the GPI.

Volunteering

IEP accept volunteers from all over the world and engage them with peace building community by attending Positive Peace Online course, so they can after that join the ambassador program with online webinars and activate their role as ambassadors.

External Recognition

In 2013, Steve Killelea’s founding of IEP was recognized as one of the 50 most impactful philanthropic gifts in Australia’s history by a coalition including the Myer Family Company, The Myer Foundation and Sidney Myer Fund, Pro Bono Australia, Swinburne University and Philanthropy Australia. In 2020 The Global Go To Think Tank Index, produced by the University of Pennsylvania, listed the Institute for Economics and Peace as a Think Tank to Watch and one of the top 15 Think Tanks with a Budget under $5 Million.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Institute for Economics and Peace websiteInteractive maps of Indices developed by IEPIR
Steve Killelea is the founder of IR Non-profit organisations based in Australia Peace organizations Peace and conflict studies