How does the permanent war economy interact, and subsume, the private, non-military economy? Can the two remain at a distance while sharing resource pools? This paper argues that they cannot. Once the U.S. embarked upon the path of permanent war, starting with World War II, the result was a...

Social life can take on a variety of forms – some violent, others peaceful. One type of social arrangement that is especially conducive to peace are friendships, that is, relationships based on mutual trust and dependence. The market is one important but often neglected space where we can...

Writing over 230 years ago, Adam Smith noted the 'juggling trick' whereby governments hide the extent of their public debt through 'pretend payments.' As the fiscal crises around the world illustrate, this juggling trick has run its course. This paper explores the relevance of Smith’s juggling...

This paper analyzes the political economy of the creeping militarization of U.S. foreign policy. The core argument is that in integrating the 3D approach -- defense, development, and diplomacy -- policymakers have assigned responsibilities to military personnel which go beyond their comparative...

This survey explores some of the institutional and political factors that set the underlying conditions for the emergence of conflict. The political economy perspective offered here differs from other important surveys and analyses of the same topic, which have focused on the ethnic dimensions...

This essay reviews four of the central themes in Emily Chamily-Wright’s The Cultural and Political Economy of Recovery. These themes include: (1) the cultural toolkit, (2) the use of qualitative methods in social science research, (3) polycentricism and disaster recovery, and (4)...

Writing over 230 years ago, Adam Smith noted the ‘juggling trick’ whereby governments hide the extent of their public debt through ‘pretend payments.’ As the fiscal crises around the world illustrate, this juggling trick has run its course. This paper explores the relevance of Smith’s...

How should governments publicly provide goods and services? One option is to do so polycentrically – through multiple, autonomous, local decision-making centers. Alternatively governments may organize public good provision monocentrically – through a singular, centralized, higher-level...

This paper provides a rational choice analysis of rituals, defined as predictable and regular observances of acts or procedures, which have a symbolic element resulting in the inculcation or reinforcement of shared values and beliefs. The purpose is threefold. First, to make clear why rituals...