Economic Development, Inequality and War Humanitarian Emergencies in Developing Countries

Economic Development, Inequality and War shows how economic decline, income inequality, pervasive rent seeking by ruling elites, political authoritarianism, military centrality and competition for mineral exports contribute to war and humanitarian emergencies. Economic regress and political decay bring about relative deprivation, perception by social groups of injustice arising from a growing discrepancy between what they expect and get. Nafziger and Auvinen indicate that both economic greed and social grievances drive contemporary civil wars. Finally, the authors also identify policies for preventing humanitarian emergencies.

E. Wayne Nafziger is a Distinguished Professor at Kansas State University.

Juha Auvinen is a Docent of International Politics at the University of Helsinki.