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War Economies in a Regional Context: Challenges of Transformation

Michael Pugh and Neil Cooper, with Jonathan Goodhand
War Economies in a Regional Context: Challenges of Transformation
ISBN: 978-1-58826-251-6
$57.00
ISBN: 978-1-58826-211-0
$24.00
2004/273 pages/LC: 2003058573
A project of the International Peace Institute

DESCRIPTION

Confronting the corrosive influence that war economies typically have on the prospects for peace in war-torn societies, this study critically analyzes current policy responses and offers a thought-provoking foundation for the development of more effective peacebuilding strategies.

The authors focus on the role played by trade in precipitating and fueling conflict, with particular emphasis on the regional dynamics that are created by war economies. Their analysis highlights the darker side of the commitment to deregulation, open markets, and the expansion of trade routes that are key features of globalization.

In each of three case studies—-Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, and Bosnia—they examine the nature of the war economy, the regional networks developed to support it, its legacies, and the impact of initiatives to transform it. That transformation, they argue, a process central to the transition from violent conflict to sustainable peace, can best be achieved through approaches that recognize critical regional factors.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michael Pugh is director of the Plymouth International Studies Centre at the University of Plymouth (UK). His numerous publications include Regeneration of War-torn Societies and The United Nations and Regional Security: Europe and Beyond, and he is editor of the journal International Peacekeeping. Neil Cooper is principal lecturer in international relations at the University of Plymouth. He has published extensively on the arms trade and postconflict demilitarization. Jonathan Goodhand is lecturer in development practice at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He has worked with numerous NGOs, as well as the UK Department for International Development, in the areas of conflict analysis and prevention.

CONTENTS

  • Introduction: Approaches to the Political Economy of Civil Wars.
  • The Regional Dimensions of Civil War Economies.
  • Afghanistan in Central Asia.
  • Sierra Leone in West Africa.
  • Bosnia-Herzegovina in Southeast Europe.
  • Controlling War Economies: A Critique of the "Liberal Peace."
  • Conclusion: Toward a New Agenda for Transforming War Economies.
No rights in South Asia.