Civil Wars and Military Expenditures: A Note

Despite the end of the Cold War, decline in World’s military expenditure (Milex) and reduction in the number of international wars, the intensity and frequency of civil wars in developing countries have increased unabated throughout the 1990s. The prospects of maintaining peace in various countries and regions of the developing world are also not very promising, given the underlining causes of civil conflict.

This paper intends to briefly review the trends of civil wars and Milex in developing countries and to outline the various causes of armed conflicts as well as the economic effects of Milex in these countries. It then investigates the causal linkages between civil wars and Milex. More importantly, the paper aims to propose broad areas for the intervention of international development institutions, and the World Bank in particular, in conflict prevention, resolution and post-conflict reconstruction. Finally, the paper throws some light on areas that warrant further research in the conflict-development nexus