PEACE ACADEMY

POSITIVE PEACE ACADEMY CERTIFICATE

MODULE ONE
LESSON 1: HISTORY OF PEACE
The efforts to provide a systemic definition of peace within a rational and humane paradigm, informed by
the best practice methodologies for research and analysis is more recent development. Nonetheless, it has
become common to cultures and religions worldwide and recent events have underscored the urgency of
this quest for peace. While deaths from violent crimes may continue to decline, the possibility of a power
struggle between major world powers is at its most likely point since the Cold War. A tense state that that
has only been exacerbated by the impact of COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, despite declining
facilities. Terrorist activity has continued to spread globally and is especially harmful to the maintenance
of peace in countries deemed to be fragile.
As a result, in pursuit of a holistic definition of peace, IEP research draws from the concept of ‘positive
peace’. A term that was first introduced into academic literature by the Norwegian pioneer of peace
research John Galtung, who distinguished two types of peace; Negative Peace which is the absence of war
and violence and Positive Peace which is a more lasting peace built on sustainable investments in
economic development and institutions as well as the societal attitudes that foster peace. In this context, it
is essential to consider the long historical evolution of the concept of peace, which has been enriched by
progressive definitions of its meaning and by ever-evolving methodologies for its implementation.

3rd Century 413 AD 1889

Early religions, schools of
Congresses
Philosophy and cultures
Define and advocate for
Peace in their world views
formed
century
St Augustine writes ‘The Universal Peace
City of God’ defining just meet annually to bring
war theory and the need ogether the various nation
just conduct in war. –al peace societies
Through the 19 th

1919 1975
The League of Nations was Foundation for Peace Studies (New Zealand) and
Formed at the Paris Peace Institute for Peace Science (Hiroshima Japan)
Conference. Based in Geneva established.
It was dissolved following its failure to deal with the outbreak of WWII (1919)
2014
IEP established its first positive
Peace Report- the attitudes, institutions and
Structures that create and sustain
Peaceful societies.

Galtung was influenced in his philosophy of peace by the pacifism of Gandhi. The iconic Indian leader
and political ethicist, famously concerned with understanding and implementing non-violent forms of
civil resistance, coined the term satyagrha – the universal value of truth and peacefulness – where
strength comes through enacting non-violent and peace-affirming practices. Similarly, the economist
Kenneth Bouldin, a contemporary of John Galtung and early proponent of systems theory, identified the
need to establish stable peace. A durable and resilient peace, which minimizes the risk of a relapse of the
system into war. Boulding, like other pioneers of peace and conflict studies, sought to understand how
social systems change overtime and to analyze which institutions and structures within the system were
conducive to stable peace and which worked against it. In many ways, Galtung’s theory of Postive Peace
neatly encapsulates the philosophies of both Gandhi and Boulding. Stressing the importance of attitudes
like satyagrha – and institutions in actively improving the social, economic and political factors that
promote peace. A legacy which IEP continues through its research into Positive Peace.
MODULE 2: GLOBAL PEACE INDEX
The Global Peace Index (GPI) measures 163 countries according to their relative states of
peacefulness.
The GPI is a measure of the first concept of peace that we reviewed in lesson two. Negative Peace. The
GPI ranks 163 countries and territories covering 99.7% of the world’s population, according to their
relative states of peace. It allows the assessment on a continuum- countries can be very peaceful,
moderately peaceful or not very peaceful. This is important because it shifts our focus away from the
good and bad dichotomy between say, rich and poor countries, to something that all nations can aspire to
improve. By doing so, it has uncovered the important trends and correlations across thousands of data
points.