Tag Archives: riots

Political Violence Risk by Country

This map created by Aon Risk Solutions, as part of its Crisis Management Web Analytics tool, shows which countries are at risk of facing political violence.

Political violence risks include terrorism, strikes, riots, civil upheaval, sabotage, war, civil war, rebellion, revolution, insurrection, a hostile act by a belligerent power, mutiny or a coup d’etat.

Based on a rating from 0 to 6, 0 being low risk (green), and 6 being very high risk (red), we can see that the countries that carry the highest risk of political violence include Argentina in the Americas; Chad, Nigeria, Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Zimbabwe in Africa; Yemen, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Myanmar, and North Korea in Asia. OECD countries are not rated in this map.

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Armed Conflicts in Africa

Map of armed conflicts in Africa 1997-2011

According to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Dataset (ACLED), the number of civil wars across the developing world has decreased over the past fifteen years, but the levels of political violence have remained relatively stable. As the number of battles decreased, riots, protests, and violence against civilians increased. To get a better understanding of the geographical distribution of violent incidents in Africa, Francisco Dans used ACLED data to create the map displayed above. The map shows all the incidents captured by ACLED between 1997 and 2011.

The Relationship Between Riots and High Food Prices

The relationship between riots and high food prices

According to a new study released by researchers at the New England Complex Systems Institute in Cambridge, high food prices play a direct role in the rise of political instability in North Africa and the Middle East. As shown in the graph above, when the UN food price index rises above a certain level, the number of riots increases around the world. The study mentions two factors that are leading to higher food prices: investor speculation in the commodities market, and the use of corn for the production of ethanol in the US.