scholarly journals Peace as a composite indicator: the goals and future of the Global Peace Index

2021 ◽  
pp. 43-56
Author(s):  
T. Morgan
Keyword(s):  
National Level ◽  
Composite Index ◽  
Composite Indicator ◽  
Skewed Distribution ◽  
Continuous Measure ◽  
Conflict Studies ◽  
Multiple Indicators ◽  
Peace And Conflict Studies ◽  
Peace And Conflict ◽  
Global Peace

This article provides an overview of the purpose, development and future of the Global Peace Index (GPI), a composite indicator of peacefulness at the national level. It explains why the concept of negative peace is well suited to being captured by a composite index, for both theoretical and statistical reasons. It examines how the GPI fits within the field of peace and conflict studies and how its methodological soundness has been assessed. This is done by looking at the history and structure of the GPI and showing how it relates to other definitions and indicators of peacefulness. The article then analyzes how the index is constructed with respect to its weighting, aggregation, and robustness. Some of the criticisms of the index are also explored, as well as the main proposed directions for the GPI evolution over the coming decade. Three main advantages of the index are identified as the ones that best reflect its novel input in peace and conflict studies. First, a composite indicator of peace helps to provide a more compelling narrative around the dynamics of peace between countries, to generate more interest in the peace and conflict field and to promote the concept of peace as a crucial driver of development. Second, the aggregation of multiple indicators of violence allows for the construction of a continuous measure of peacefulness with a less skewed distribution that can serve as the baseline for seeing which factors in other areas are correlated with peacefulness. Third, this composite measure of peacefulness highlights areas where data on aspects of negative peace are missing, incomplete, or not comparable across countries and drives the creation of new and novel indicators to fill these data gaps.

A culture of peace and leadership education

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 205-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erich P. Schellhammer
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Education ◽  
Leadership Studies ◽  
Conflict Studies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
World Community ◽  
Effective Leaders ◽  
Peace And Conflict Studies ◽  
Peace And Conflict ◽  
Culture Of Peace ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the connections between the principles of a culture of peace and leadership education. It argues that leadership should be informed by the values of a culture of peace. This, in turn, compels leadership education to teach mindsets, values and competencies aligned with a culture of peace. Design/methodology/approach The paper explores the evolution of leadership theory within the context of an increasingly complex world. It then uses United Nations materials to identify principles for a culture of peace as it is now widely acknowledged by the world community. Identifying correspondence between both theoretical realms the paper identifies peace leadership education goals that are supported by established peace organizations and by philosophical and psychological scholarship. Findings The paper establishes a direct link between the values of a culture of peace and leadership that is adequate as well as successful to address the complexity of today’s world. It also identifies key principles that need to be adopted by leadership education to prepare students to become effective leaders. The paper also explores essential educational tools for leadership educators. Practical implications The theoretical framework presented in this paper can be used to adjust leadership education to give practical guidance for aspiring leaders. It is also useful for peace and conflict studies programmes interested in developing peace leaders. Originality/value The interrelationship between leadership studies and peace and conflict studies constitutes a new field of academic inquiry. The present paper is one of the first in the field and is intended to further establish this new disciplinary orientation.

Bridging the gap between cyberwar and cyberpeace

2021 ◽  
Vol 97 (6) ◽  
pp. 1727-1747
Author(s):  
Joe Burton ◽  
George Christou
Keyword(s):  
National Security ◽  
Information And Communications Technology ◽  
Security Studies ◽  
Cyber Warfare ◽  
Communications Technology ◽  
Conflict Studies ◽  
Critical Security Studies ◽  
Peace And Conflict Studies ◽  
Peace And Conflict ◽  
Conceptual Debate

Abstract The conceptual debate around the term cyber warfare has dominated the cybersecurity discipline over the last two decades. Much less attention has been given during this period to an equally important question: what constitutes cyber peace? This article draws on the literatures in peace and conflict studies and on desecuritization in critical security studies, to suggest how we might begin to rearticulate the cybersecurity narrative and shift the debate away from securitization and cyberwar to a more academically grounded focus on desecuritization and cyber peace. It is argued that such a move away from a vicious circle where states frame cybersecurity predominantly within a national security narrative and where they seek to perpetually prepare for cyberwar, to a virtual cycle of positive cyber peace, is not only a desirable, but a necessary outcome going forward. We assert that this is particularly important if we are to avoid (continuing) to construct the very vulnerabilities and insecurities that lead to the prioritization of offence and destruction in cyberspace, rather than transformative, human-centred development in information and communications technology innovation.

Collective Memory After Violent Conflict

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-29
Author(s):  
Markus Breitweg
Keyword(s):  
Collective Memory ◽  
Conflict Studies ◽  
Ideal Types ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Effective Interventions ◽  
Peace And Conflict Studies ◽  
Peace And Conflict ◽  
Heuristic Device ◽  
The One ◽  
Violent Conflicts

This chapter develops a framework for the analysis of collective memory in post-conflict settings. It is argued that so far collective memory is not sufficiently theorized within peace and conflict studies, even though in the aftermath of violent conflicts competing memories easily become subject to salient struggles that may even result in yet another outburst of violence. It is these competing representations of the past that researchers should more thoroughly concern themselves with and that they lack an appropriate heuristic device for. Focusing on processual and multidimensional concepts from the fashionable field of memory studies, the author proposes a new framework for analysis that offers categories and ideal-types for practice-oriented research. Based on poststructuralist discourse analysis, the framework allows to link discursive structures and patterns of identity, on the one hand, to actual agency on the other hand, thus facilitating effective interventions.

scholarly journals A Process Oriented MCDM Approach to Construct a Circular Economy Composite Index

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 618 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Garcia-Bernabeu ◽  
Adolfo Hilario-Caballero ◽  
David Pla-Santamaria ◽  
Francisco Salas-Molina
Keyword(s):  
Circular Economy ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
National Level ◽  
Composite Index ◽  
Composite Indicator ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Monitoring Framework

The purpose of this contribution is to develop a Circular Economy Composite indicator to benchmark EU countries performance. Europe is at the forefront of the global transition towards a sustainable and circular economy. To this end, the European Commission has launched in 2015 a Circular Economy Action Plan including a monitoring framework to measure progress and to assess the effectiveness of initiatives towards the circular economy in the European Union (EU) and Member States. Still, this monitoring framework lacks a composite indicator at the national level to aggregate the circular economy dimensions into a single summary indicator. Although there is a wide range of sustainability composite indicators, no aggregate circular economy index exits to this date. We use a multi-criteria approach to construct a circular economy composite index based on TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preferences by Similarity to Ideal Solutions) methodology. In addition, we introduce a novel aggregation methodology for building a composite indicator where different levels of compensability for the distances to the ideal and anti-ideal (or negative-ideal) values of each indicator are considered. In order to illustrate the advantages of this proposal, we have applied it to evaluate the Circular Economy performance of EU Member States for the year 2016. This proposal can be a valuable tool for identifying areas in which the countries need to concentrate their efforts to boost their circular economy performance.

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