The authors address the question of state militarization under conditions of ethnic and other diversity. "Primordialist" claims about ancient hatreds, fear, and insecurity in such societies would lead one to expect that fractionalization, polarization, and ethno-nationalist exclusion would...

Informal institutions — family and kinship structures,traditions, and social norms — not only matter for development, but they are often decisive factors in shaping policy outcomes in environments of weak states and poor governance structures. Based on concrete examples in the areas of...

There has been a long debate over whether peace is best preserved by a balance or preponderance of power. Organski and Kugler suggested that the dynamics of relative dyadic power matter most. Using GNP to measure national capabilities, they found support for their power-transition theory, but...

Recent research identifies state capacity as a crucial determinant of civil peace. Scholars often interpret the association between wealth and peace as state capacity effects, but they have not clearly distinguished the impact of administrative reach and capacity for coercion from those effects...

The existing literature identifies natural resource wealth as a major determinant of civil war. The dominant causal link is that resources provide finance and motive (the “looting rebels†model). Others see natural resources as causing “political Dutch disease,†which in turn...