War, Hunger, and Displacement: The Origins of Humanitarian Emergencies: Volume 1

TRAMA

Since the end of the cold war, the number of civil wars in developing countries has escalated to the point where they are the most significant source of human suffering in the world today. Although there are many political analyses of these emergencies, this two-volume work is the first comprehensive study of the economic, social, and political roots of humanitarian emergencies, identifying early measures to prevent such disasters.

NOTE EDITORE

Civil wars in developing countries are amongst the most significant sources of human suffering in the world today. Although there are many political analyses of these emergencies, this two-volume work is the first comprehensive study of the economic, social, and political roots of humanitarian emergencies, identifying early measures to prevent such disasters. Nafziger, Stewart, and Väyrynen draw on a wide range of specialists on the political economy of war and on major conflicts to show the causes of conflict. The first volume provides a general overview of the nature and causes of the emergencies, including economic, political, and environmental factors. The second volume provides detailed case studies of thirteen conflicts (including Rwanda, Burundi, the Congo, Afghanistan, and the Caucasus) that originated in the weakness of the state or where economic factors predominate. The volumes emphasize the significance of protracted economic stagnation and decline, government exclusion of distinct social groups, state failure, predatory rule, and high and increasing inequality, especially horizontal inequalities, or inequality among groups in access to political, economic, and social resources. They criticize beliefs recurrent in the literature that emergencies are the result of deteriorating environmental conditions or structural adjustment, or arise from ethnic animosities alone. Violent conflicts and state violence arise from the interaction of cultural, economic, and political factors. Following this analysis of the causes of war and genocide, the work points to policies that would help to prevent humanitarian emergencies in developing countries, which would be much less costly than the present strategy of the world community of spending millions of dollars annually to provide mediation, relief, and rehabilitation after the conflict occurs.

SOMMARIO

1 - The Root Causes of Humanitarian Emergencies2 - Complex Humanitarian Emergencies: Concepts and Issues3 - The Economic Causes of Humanitarian Emergencies4 - The Conflict Over Natural and Environmental Resources5 - Water Scarcity as a Source of Crises6 - Stabilization Programmes, Social Costs, Violence, and Humanitarian Emergencies7 - Political Causes of Humanitarian Emergencies8 - War, Crime, and Access to Resources9 - Ethnicity and the Politics of Conflict: The Case of Matabeleland1 - Case Studies of Complex Humanitarian Emergencies: An Introduction2 - Afghanistan: The Last Cold War Conflict, the First Post-Cold War Conflict3 - Cambodia: Genocide, Autocracy, and the Overpolitized State4 - Iraq: Economic Embargo and Predatory Rule5 - Burundi: The Long Sombre Shadow of Ethnic Instability6 - Rwanda: The Social Roots of Genocide7 - Somalia: The Struggle for Resources8 - Liberia and Sierra Leone: The Competition for Patronage in Resource-Rich Economies9 - Congo (Zaire): Corruption, Disintegration, and State Failure10 - Kenya: Economic Decline and Ethnic Politics11 - Haiti: Towards the Abyss? Poverty, Dependence, and Resource Depletion12 - El Salvador: Economic Disparities, External Intervention, and Civil Conflict13 - The South Caucasus: The Breakdown of the Soviet Empire14 - Weak States and Humanitarian Emergencies: Failure, Predation, and Rent-Seeking

ALTRE INFORMAZIONI

• Condizione: Nuovo
• ISBN: 9780198297390
• Collana: WIDER Studies in Development Economics
• Dimensioni: 242 x 25.0 x 163 mm Ø 699 gr
• Formato: Copertina rigida
• Illustration Notes: tables
• Pagine Arabe: 366