POSITIVE PEACE REPORT

Freedom of the Press Records Sharp Decline in Past Decade

The Positive Peace Report 2026 finds freedom of the press fell faster than any other indicator over the past decade, accelerating sharply after COVID-19. This decline occurred alongside broader deteriorations in the institutions essential to sustaining peace.

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Positive Peace Report 2026

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How the Global Transition to Renewables Impacts Conflict

The clean energy shift has made critical minerals strategic assets. Bridget Cameron, IEP Communications Intern, examines how this rising demand is...

A Blueprint for Revitalising Struggling Democracies

The Positive Peace Report 2026 finds that the concept and metric of Positive Peace offers an empirically based path to renewal for democracies...

Peace as a system: The Need for a Strategic Approach in Northern Ireland

Dr Andrew Thomson and Professor Dominic Bryan of Queen's University Belfast set out the case for using the Positive Peace framework to measure and...

EVENTS

iFocus 2026

15 October 2026 | Conference

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GLOBAL PEACE INDEX

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How the Global Transition to Renewables Impacts Conflict

The clean energy shift has made critical minerals strategic assets. Bridget Cameron, IEP...

How terror groups are now using AI to improve attacks
Artificial Intelligence
July 15, 2026

How terror groups are now using AI to improve attacks

Terror groups had been using artificial intelligence mainly as a propaganda tool, useful for...

AI Cold War: New Chapter of Great Power Competition?
Artificial Intelligence
July 10, 2026

AI Cold War: New Chapter of Great Power Competition?

Massive infrastructure investments in artificial intelligence are changing the nature of power in...

How Football Carries the Stories Conflict Leaves Behind 

Around a quarter of the 1,248 players at the 2026 World Cup were born outside the country they are...

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The world is less peaceful — for the 12th year running.

Three structural drivers underpin this trend: a redistribution of global power eroding the post-Cold-War order, the transnational spread of conflict through refugees, arms, finance and ideology, and the rapid diffusion of autonomous weapons and AI-enabled targeting ahead of governance frameworks.

Explore Global Peace Index 2026 Findings
How the Global Transition to Renewables Impacts Conflict

The clean energy shift has made critical minerals strategic assets. Bridget Cameron, IEP...

How the far right is recruiting youth online 

A record number of people are being referred to the UK’s counter-terrorism program led by...

Seeing Risk Clearly: A Fairer Way to Price Loans for Small Businesses in the Developing World 

New IEP and UNDP research finds that SME lending risks in developing countries are routinely...

How the Climate Crisis Is Becoming a Financial Stability Risk 

As rivers run dry across Germany, Romania, and Hungary, and wildfires in Europe have caused an...

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Seeing Risk Clearly: A Fairer Way to Price Loans for Small Businesses in the Developing World 

New IEP and UNDP research finds that SME lending risks in developing countries are routinely...

The Hidden Price of the Iran War
Economics
June 9, 2026

The Hidden Price of the Iran War

Peace has always had an economic value. The 2026 Global Peace Index reveals that a resumption of...

Peace, pressure and the rise of militarisation in Germany and Japan 

Japan and Germany, both shaped by the legacy of the Second World War and long defined by restraint...

Why political, social and ecological risks are amplifying global conflict

Economic conflicts now outpace even conventional armed conflict as the greatest short-term risk to...

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