World Report 2005

Author: Institute for World Peace
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-05-01
Features: In a public opinion survey conducted at the end of 2003 involving 43,000 people in 51 countries, those who rated international security as "poor" were twice as many as those who rated it as "good." Nearly half of the respondents believed that the next generation would live in a less secure world than the present. A survey conducted in June 2003 among "public opinion leaders" in 48 countries revealed a widespread sense of pessimism, with at least two-thirds of people in various regions claiming dissatisfaction with the current global situation. In a series of surveys funded by the World Bank (WorldBank) and involving 20,000 poor people in 23 developing countries, the majority reported that their lives had worsened, economic opportunities had decreased, and their sense of instability had grown stronger. The pressures faced by countries and people around the world do not automatically or necessarily lead to violence. However, these pressures can evolve into political triggers, leading to polarization and extremism. Moreover, if grievances go unheard, if people are forced to struggle endlessly in the depths of mass unemployment and long-term poverty, if government institutions are incompetent or corrupt, if weapons proliferate unchecked, and if political persecution or despair drives people to lose hope in the future and embrace extremist movements, the consequences could be worse. Currently, the internationally recognized six authoritative annual reports include the World Bank's World Development Report, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)'s Human Development Report, the World Resources Institute's World Resources, the Institute for World Peace's World Report, the London International Strategy Institute's World Strategy Report, and the Swiss World Competitiveness Report.——The concerns of Professor Niu Wenyuan, Group Leader and Chief Scientist of the China Academy of Sciences' Sustainable Development Strategy Group, have once again made security the primary issue of global concern. The dangers triggered by terrorist actions are like snakes rising from a web woven by poverty, inequality, international crime, the collapse of lethal weapons, infectious diseases, and painful competition over land and resources. To establish global security, all nations must regard these "boundaryless problems" as shared risks. Government policies that solely seek to resolve security issues through force while ignoring the underlying causes will exacerbate trends of violence and instability. Policies formulated on the basis of redefining global security issues can not only avoid these risks but also promote constructive alternatives. The authors of World Report 2005 propose that the path to peace and stability lies in: reducing dependence on oil, establishing food security, managing water conflicts, curbing the spread of infectious diseases, disarmament, and achieving sustainable development through international cooperation.