Economic Globalization and Civil War Essay

Researchers Katherine Barbieri and Rafael Reuveny attempt through their study on economic globalization and civil war to find the relation, if any, between the effects of globalization and the occurrence of civil wars in developing countries. Their hypothesis is that globalization has positive effects on developing countries, causing them to have more stability and become less likely to erupt in civil war. Using the examples of 74 civil wars spanning the years of 1970-1999, the researchers compared variables of globalization including international trade, foreign direct investment, foreign portfolio investment, and internet use against periods of civil war in corresponding countries. Their results revealed that when the globalization variables, with the exception of internet use, are more important to a country it is less likely to have a civil war. These variables produce an economic stability that makes people less inclined to interrupt the status quo. Their results showed that poor countries with large populations that were less likely to be economically equal in already dire financial straits are far more likely to see internal unrest. While globalization is unlikely to be the root cause of civil war and can help reduce the likelihood it cannot prevent it as there may be deeper forces at work such as cultural or ethnic inequalities that may be exacerbated by globalization.