Most wars are now civil wars. Even though international wars attract enormous global attention, they have become infrequent and brief. Civil wars usually attract less attention, but they have become increasingly common and typically go on for years. This report argues that civil war is now an...

Recent research undertaken by the Bank and others, suggest that developing countries face substantially higher risks of violent conflict, and poor governance if highly dependent on primary commodities. Revenues from the legal, or illegal exploitation of natural resources have financed...

This article, published in Spanish translation in the Mexican journal Letras Libres (and reprinted in the Peru legal journal Ius Inter Gentes), argues the links between improving human and legal rights protections for people living in poverty and success in ending poverty. It then examines...

Poverty in the developing world will decline by roughly half by 2015 if current growth trends and policies persist. But a disproportionate share of poverty reduction will occur in East and South Asia, poverty will decline only slightly in Sub-Saharan Africa, and it will increase in Eastern...

Are global incomes converging or diverging Despite recent empirical evidence supporting the hypothesis of unconditional beta convergence, this paper argues that such findings overlook the stark reality facing the world's poorest people. Many lower income countries, including those among the...