Is the Pen Mightier than the Sword? How Literacy Can Predict Cooperation or Conflict

In the field of conflict resolution we assume that education and knowledge in a society leads to greater cooperation and lower likelihood of conflict. While the logic of this assumption makes sense, it is important to assess whether the way we measure and conceive of education and knowledge reliably describes the likelihood of societal cooperation. Since cooperation and conflict are understood in conflict theory as outcomes of social well-being (S), governance (G) and economic stability (E) (SGE variables), we test whether UNESCO’s standard definition of literacy is a reliable quantitative indicator of education and knowledge levels sufficient for a society to maintain cooperation and avoid conflict. The results show that the standard definition of literacy rates does not adequately describe the knowledge and literacy skills needed to propagate th e SGE variables across different societies, so we explore how contextual and functional definitions of literacy can enhance educational programming to better support the development of cooperation in developing and conflict-affected counties