About the Report

Most wars are now civil wars. Although international wars attract enormous attention, they have become infrequent and brief. Civil wars attract less attention, but they are increasingly common and typically go on for years. Civil War and Development Policy argues that civil war is now an important issue for development. War retards development, but conversely, development retards war. Where development succeeds countries become progressively safer from violent conflict, making subsequent development easier. Where development fails countries are at high risk of becoming caught in a trap, in which war wrecks the economy and increases the risk of further war.

Little is being done to prevent civil war because of two beliefs: that ‘nothing can be done’ because civil war is driven by ancestral ethnic and religious hatreds, and that we can safely ‘let them fight it out among themselves’. The purpose of this Report is to challenge those beliefs.