A safer, nicer Africa? Rising incomes drives the process

 

Christian Science Monitor op-ed via WPR's Media Round-Up.

I just liked this reminder of the true facts on the ground:

In the past four years of the Global Peace Index, run by the Institute of Economics and Peace, Africa emerges as the most progressive region in terms of peacefulness. This is not the say it is the most peaceful; it isn’t. But, from a low base, the region is moving toward peace at a much faster pace than any other region as the number and intensity of conflicts decrease, military expenditure is reduced, and access to small arms is lessened.

Africa’s progress underscores the profound link between peace and prosperity. Indeed, a the continent’s peacefulness increases, its GDP growth is now the highest since the 1960s, when many African nations achieved independence. In another hopeful sign, child mortality has been dropping by 2 percent per year for the past decade.

As for the conventional wisdom that says we're living in the most war-filled era in human history and that globalization serves only to make the poor poorer, Africa' path reminds us that such notions are complete bullshit.