Sudan conflict and refugee crisis (World Health Organizations)

Highlights: Over 500 days have passed since the escalation of conflict in Sudan in April 2023. Healthcare should never be a target. However, since April 2023, 106 attacks on healthcare have been verified, resulting in 183 deaths and 125 injuries. Many more undocumented attacks are likely to have occurred. There is an ongoing cholera outbreak …

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ICM Annual Crisis Report 2023

Crisis news story statistics continued their postpandemic shuffle with some surprises revealed in the 2023 numbers. The Institute for Crisis Management® (ICM) tallied 1,977,722 crisis news stories in 2023, a decrease of about nine percent over 2022 in a retreat towards pre-pandemic story numbers. COVID-19 stories continued to make some headlines, but not nearly to …

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When is a Crisis a “Crisis” and Why Does It Matter? (The Chicago Council on Global Affairs)

One of the defining features of 2020 has been the declaration of seemly one crisis after another. As COVID-19 cases surge, most Americans are focused on the pandemic as the predominant crisis facing our country. However, the coronavirus is not the only crisis we face. The pandemic has catalyzed an economic crisis, with the head of the International Monetary …

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Ethiopia’s Ominous New War in Amhara (Crisis Watch)

What’s new? Ethiopia’s federal government is battling yet another revolt. This time, militants are engaged in hostilities with federal forces in Amhara, the country’s second-most populous region. After tensions escalated all year, insurgents briefly seized control of major towns in August. They remain active in much of the countryside. Why did it happen? Amhara militias fought alongside federal …

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CrisisWatch: Tracking Conflict Worldwide (Crisis Watch)

CrisisWatch is our global conflict tracker, an early warning tool designed to help prevent deadly violence. It keeps decision-makers up-to-date with developments in over 70 conflicts and crises every month, identifying trends and alerting them to risks of escalation and opportunities to advance peace. In addition, CrisisWatch monitors over 50 situations (“standby monitoring”) to offer timely …

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Root causes of violent conflict in developing countries (Frances Stewart)

Poverty and political, social, and economic inequalities between groups predispose to conflict; policies to tackle them will reduce this risk Eight out of 10 of the world’s poorest countries are suffering, or have recently suffered, from large scale violent conflict. Wars in developing countries have heavy human, economic, and social costs and are a major …

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Social Identity and Economic Policy (Moses Shayo)

ABSTRACT I review evidence that individuals associate themselves—or identify—with groups in two fundamental ways: ingroup bias and conformity to group norms. The evidence spans many spheres of economic activity, including consumption, production, hiring, promotion, education, cooperation, financial investments, and law enforcement. Group identities are not fixed, even when it comes to ethnic and religious identities. …

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Social Identity and Economic Policy (Moses  Shayo)

I review evidence that individuals associate themselves—or identify—with groups in two fundamental ways: ingroup bias and conformity to group norms. The evidence spans many spheres of economic activity, including consumption, production, hiring, promotion, education, cooperation, financial investments, and law enforcement. Group identities are not fixed, even when it comes to ethnic and religious identities. I …

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The Economics of Identity and Conflict (Subhasish M. Chowdhury)

Summary Conflicts are a ubiquitous part of our life. One of the main reasons behind the initiation and escalation of conflict is the identity, or the sense of self, of the engaged parties. It is hence not surprising that there is a consistent area of academic literature that focuses on identity, conflict, and their interaction. …

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Modernization, social identity, and ethnic conflict (Kazuhiro Yuki)

Abstract The lack of a shared national identity is often blamed for ethnic conflict and low economic development. This raises the question: does a society’s modernization (in particular, industrialization) lead to a shared identity, thereby bringing good outcomes in conflict and development? This paper theoretically examines the question using a contest model of conflict augmented …

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