The Peace Level of Nations: An Empirical Investigation into the Determining Factors

Received: 22 May 2021, Revised: 25 May 2021, Accepted: 11 Aug 2021, Available online: 08 Sep 2021, Version of Record: 08 Sep 2021

Pascal L. Ghazalian
&
Mohammad Hammoud

Abstract


The escalated violent conflicts and political upheavals in many developing countries have emphasized the pertinence of examining the multifaceted nature of conflict, and the various strategies that bring about reasonable degrees of peace. This paper examines the effects of national economic and socio-economic factors on national peace level, and on the corresponding elementary indicators. The empirical analysis is implemented through a panel dataset, using different econometric methodologies. The basic results underline that countries characterized by higher economic development levels, open trade systems, more educated population, and democratic systems rest on higher national peace levels. Meanwhile, countries that experience higher levels of income inequality and that are endowed with natural resources tend to be less peaceful. Also, the positive impacts of international alliances/regional blocs on national peace are mainly expressed through their promoting economic effects rather than through their aggression-deterrence properties. The empirical analysis shows that the effects of national economic and socio-economic factors on the elementary indicators exhibit considerable variations in magnitude and significance. Hence, an exclusive examination of the effects of these variables on the overall peace index would conceal significant differences across the elementary indicators, which should be accounted for when analyzing national peace and developing peace-promoting strategies.
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“Authors state no conflict of interest”


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This research received no external funding or grants


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Peer review under responsibility of Defence Science Journal


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