The article reviews Vernon Ruttan's new book, Is War Necessary for Economic Growth? Military Procurement and Technological Development. (Oxford University Press, 2006). The subject matter is limited to the post-World War II United States only. Studying six general-purpose technologies emerging...

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...

Prospects for Iraq's economy are bleak: unemployment remains high and the post-war rebuilding effort has slowed to a trickle, weighed down by chronic instability. Rising oil prices increased GDP in 2004 and 2005. But an oil-induced rise in GDP will not necessarily bring about a general rise in...

The article discusses, first, systems control theory, which tells us how a self-regulating system, for example of social and political peace, should work. Second, it considers the theory of imperfect markets, which tells us just why peace and security frequently fail to be obtained. Third, it...

A comparative analysis is made of the experiences of Mozambique and Rwanda as they moved away from their respective conflicts. This provides useful information and a means of learning lessons that can inform future policy formation, particularly regarding the roles of the international community...

To deal with boundary and transboundary water issues along their border, the United States and Mexico established the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) in 1889. Initially dealing only with surface water flows, its flexibility permitted changes such that groundwater and water...

Noting that the cost of war-prevention is much less than that of war and its aftermath, the article discusses options for a United Nations Institute for Mediation, a U.N. Security Insurance Agency, and an International Security Commission. It suggests that just as in the course of history,...

We develop two extensions of the traditional deterrence game to examine the influence of third players, called Assassin and Donor, upon the behavior of a Challenger. The results present the optimal behavior of Challenger when Assassin and Donor are included in the traditional deterrence game....

An important consensus today is that intolerance and social conflict have a substantial economic dimension. This article models a person’s “returns” to acts of intolerance in terms of social approval or disapproval that this person’s peer-group may offer. It is found that high levels of...

The article examines the interaction of countries in the same region when making efforts to achieve stability. The leader in regional initiatives that foster stability is likely to be the most vulnerable member of the region because in the event of regional instability, the leader member will...