Current military doctrine emphasizes the importance of development spending in reducing insurgent violence. Using data from three distinct development programs, the Afghan National Solidarity Program, USAID’s Local Governance and Community Development Program, and the U.S. military's...

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...

Privatization of violence and international interventions to stop wars are two recent trends in wars. Both affect how the traditional state monopoly of force is exercised and on how armed forces operate. The concept of state monopoly of force is now questioned since the execution of force is...

Reviewing how the legacy of Namibia's armed conflict has influenced its path of post-conflict reconstruction, the article reflects on the limitations and failures of efforts geared toward the fostering of sustainable peace and the consolidation of democracy. It begins with a short history of the...

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...

Reviewing how the legacy of Namibia's armed conflict has influenced its path of post-conflict reconstruction, the article reflects on the limitations and failures of efforts geared toward the fostering of sustainable peace and the consolidation of democracy. It begins with a short history of the...

Privatization of violence and international interventions to stop wars are two recent trends in wars. Both affect how the traditional state monopoly of force is exercised and on how armed forces operate. The concept of state monopoly of force is now questioned since the execution of force is...

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...