According to the report, part of Malaysia’s stability was attributed to the general peace it enjoyed in the region the past decade, although of late, there was some tension in the form of the Spratly Islands dispute.

The report added that over the past year, 81 countries enjoyed more peace, while 79 others experienced a deterioration.

“The average deterioration was larger than the average improvement, accounting for the global drop in score (0.53 per cent).

“The largest improvement was recorded in the UN peacekeeping funding and security officers and police indicators, while the largest deterioration occurred in terrorism impact and political instability,” said the report.

It added that West Asia was the least peaceful region last year, with the largest deterioration recorded in Yemen, Libya and Bahrain.

IEP is an independent, non-partisan, and non-profit think tank headquartered in Australia.

The GPI is composed of 23 quantitative and qualitative indicators from highly respected sources and gauges global peace using three broad themes: the level of safety and security in society, the extent of domestic or international conflict and the degree of militarisation.