This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (3) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Bussmann, M. Articles by Wiesehomeier, N. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Foreign Economic Liberalization and Peace: The Case of Sub-Saharan Africa

University of Konstanz, Germany

Gerald Schneider

University of Konstanz, Germany

Nina Wiesehomeier

University of Konstanz, Germany

A typical adage of the globalization literature is that foreign economic liberalization undermines the social fabric of developing countries. This article examines this claim for the sub-Saharan African countries and thus the continent that experienced both low economic growth and a high incidence of armed conflict during the 1990s. Our results yield support for the assertion that economic openness durably pacifies countries once the restructuring of the economy is over. We can, however, not reject the possibility that the distributional consequences of foreign economic liberalization increase the risk of civil war during the implementation of the reform measures. We contrast this ‘distributional’ model with alternative explanations such as the role of the International Monetary Fund and the level of democracy. A comparative case study on Guinea and Guinea-Bissau lends some illustrative evidence to the claim that compensating the losers of globalization can pacify intrastate relations.

Key Words: Africa • civil war • foreign economic liberalization • globalization • Heckscher-Ohlin • Ricardo-Viner • Structural Adjustment Programmes

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				R. Torenvlied and C. M. Klein Haarhuis Polarization and Policy Reform: Anti-Corruption Policymaking in Sub-Saharan Africa Journal of Peace Research, March 1, 2008; 45(2): 223 - 240. [Abstract] [PDF]