Reductions in military expenditure will generate pressures to restructure the defense industry. This article explores the implications of a more peaceful evolution of military expenditure for the economic structure of this industry. For example, since military expenditure and defense industry...

The article establishes methods by which to estimate demand and supply in the commercial firearms market in the United States. For the first time, this includes the number of used firearms resold via federally licensed retailers. For 2010, for example, total unit sales are estimated at 9.8...

This article explores the relative importance of pre-colonial institutional capacity and the effects of periods of peace and stability on long-term development outcomes in Nigeria. We use data on education, health, and public works at a provincial level from a variety of colonial and Nigerian...

This policy overview draws upon two studies, one theoretical and one empirical, to explore lessons from medieval Indian Ocean trade for supporting ethnic tolerance in contemporary settings. The overview begins by sketching a model of inter-ethnic trade and violence in environments where there...

The article applies insights of contest theory to al Qaeda's recruitment process. Al Qaeda can be considered as a contest organizer rewarding an indivisible prize, namely, official membership and economic rewards, to candidate extremist groups. Would-be terrorists must then compete with each...

Recent work has suggested the foreign-led reconstruction effort carried out in Afghanistan and Iraq can mitigate violence because it helps win the “hearts and minds” of local people. For the case of Afghanistan, we show there is no evidence behind such an assertion. Analyzing unique data on...

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...

By examining diverse water-related tension and conflict situations from the Tonle Sap area of Cambodia, the article seeks to contest the view that water-related conflicts are always about water scarcity. Tackling different dimensions of water-related conflicts, the three cases studied here all...

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...

In the post-Cold War period, the main threat to the United States and other Western nations comes from weak, failed, and conflict-torn states. The viability of military occupation and reconstruction as strategies to deal with these threats is an open issue. I explore two central, but often...