The Frequency of Wars

Mark Harrison () and Nikolaus Wolf

The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) from University of Warwick, Department of Economics

Abstract: Wars are increasingly frequent, and the trend has been steadily upward since 1870.The main tradition of Western political and philosophical thought suggests that extensive economic globalization and democratization over this period should have reduced appetites for war far below their current level. This view is clearly incomplete: at best, confounding factors are at work. Here, we explore the capacity to wage war. Most fundamentally, the growing number of sovereign states has been closely associated with the spread of democracy and increasing commercial openness, as well as the number of bilateral conflicts. Trade and democracy are traditionally thought of as goods, both in themselves, and because they reduce the willingness to go to war, conditional on the national capacity to do so. But the same factors may also have been increasing the capacity for war, and so its frequency. We need better understanding of how to promote these goods without incurring adverse side-effects on world peace

Keywords: wars; state capacity; democracy; trade (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H56 N40 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 20 pages
Date: 2008
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Related works:
Chapter: The Frequency of Wars (2014)
Journal Article: The frequency of wars (2012)
Working Paper: The Frequency of Wars (2011)
Working Paper: The Frequency of Wars (2009)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wrk:warwec:879

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