The article reports results of an empirical investigation into trade, openness, and domestic conflict for several Latin American countries. It addresses two main issues: (1) whether variations in trade openness affect the likelihood of the onset of domestic conflict and (2) once initiated, how...

Lundin Petroleum spent over twelve years exploring for oil in Sudan, Ethiopia, and in Kenya. During this period it was faced with an armed conflict in Sudan, the risk of rebel activity in Ethiopia, and tribal clashes in Kenya. This meant the company had to consider operations in remote countries...

This article reviews the literature on the relationship between natural resource abundance and civil conflict, focusing on cross-country, quantitative research. It concludes that results on natural resources (as a single category) as a cause of conflict onset are quite unstable. A more robust...

The conflict-trade paradigm has been dominated by the liberal and realist schools of thought, which try to explain how and why trade affects conflict and cooperation. While the liberal point of view predicts a positive effect of levels of trade on cooperation, realists counter by arguing a...

A viable peace is one that comes about naturally and persists without the need for outside intervention. At least since Baron de Montesquieu’s statement that “peace is the natural effect of trade. Two nations who traffic with each other become reciprocally dependent; for if one has the...

This article considers the so-called resource curse plaguing fragile states with abundant extractive resources. It critically assesses the assumption that nonstate actors such as extractive industries, civil society organizations, and investors have the ability to exert effective pressure...

A viable peace is one that comes about naturally and persists without the need for outside intervention. At least since Baron de Montesquieu’s statement that “peace is the natural effect of trade. Two nations who traffic with each other become reciprocally dependent; for if one has the...

The article reports results of an empirical investigation into trade, openness, and domestic conflict for several Latin American countries. It addresses two main issues: (1) whether variations in trade openness affect the likelihood of the onset of domestic conflict and (2) once initiated, how...

The conflict-trade paradigm has been dominated by the liberal and realist schools of thought, which try to explain how and why trade affects conflict and cooperation. While the liberal point of view predicts a positive effect of levels of trade on cooperation, realists counter by arguing a...

With world military expenditure rising rapidly since 2000, one of the possible drivers that has drawn less attention has been the role of natural resource revenues, especially oil. Countries as diverse as Angola, Azerbaijan, Chad, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, and Timor-Leste have seen huge rises...