Rebel mobilization is a crucial component of conflict initiation, but the existing civil war literature has not given adequate attention to this element in an ethnic group’s decision to fight. In this paper we look at the mobilization process by considering the impact of intragroup economic inequality on conflict. We argue that an ethnic group’s economic inequality is negatively related to its ...

In this review, we examine the links between economic development and social conflict. By economic development, we refer broadly to aggregate changes in per capita income and wealth or in the distribution of that wealth. By social conflict, we refer to within-country unrest, ranging from peaceful demonstrations, processions, and strikes to violent riots and civil war. We organize our review by ...

The humanitarian situation in Syria is dire, and government forces have now violated global norms and conventions prohibiting the use of chemical weapons against civilian populations. There is a controversy about whether the responsibility to protect can be met in a context where there is not a well-articulated or plausible path from humanitarian intervention to resolution of the conflict or ev...

Theories of conflict diffusion have long argued that domestic conflict spreads from one country to others. One set of mechanisms explaining this relies on material flows across borders that incite violence in neighboring countries. Another set of mechanisms, however, relies on informational flows. Information about ongoing violence elsewhere triggers strategic learning and demonstration effects...

This paper addresses the endogeneity of ethnic settlement patterns and conflict, that is, how settlement patterns affect conflict, and how conflict in turn changes the ethnic map. I argue that the application of violence during conflict is driven by the territorial aspirations of ethnic groups. Locations where territorial claims clash should see more violence as groups struggle for control of a...

How does a state’s ethnic composition affect its propensity to engage in diversionary conflicts? Recent empirical work has examined the political conditions under which domestic unrest compels an embattled leader to initiate conflict abroad. We remain largely uncertain, however, of what social or demographic characteristics make states particularly prone to diversionary behavior. This paper tak...

We explore the connection between inequality and civil conflict by focusing on the mediating role of ethnic identity. Using over 200 individual-level surveys from 89 countries, we provide a new data set with countryand group-level measures of inequality within and across ethnic groups. We then show that consistent with Esteban and Ray’s (2011) argument about the need for labor and capital to fi...

This essay covers three broad topics. First, there has been renewed debate about human nature and the roots of intergroup violence and warfare in evolutionary biology, in psychology, and in anthropology. The “ordinary man” hypothesis explains why and how humans justify and participate in violence and atrocities. Second, in addition to interstate wars, political scientists have been studying ins...