Introduction
For many years, poverty has been found to erupt in regions affected by war and vise versa. People from war torn regions have been found to languish in poverty with all their hopes lying in hands of well wishers (Hess, 2002, p. 12 ). It is from this experience that one poses a question on whether there is a connection between war and poverty. This paper aims at looking at the extent to which war and poverty are connected.
Connection between war and poverty
According to Abadie (2006, pp. 23-52), it has been identified that there is a strong relationship between poverty and war. Poverty in a specific society or country leads to weakening of the states security. For countries vulnerable to insurgents, poverty leads to such groups thriving. This is because law enforcing agency in such countries can not be able to effectively fund the machinery required to ensure that law and order is observed. Abadie posits that income par capita of any country acts as a determinant of its ability to manage its police, military and other administrative institutions. At times of poverty, everyone struggles to ensure that he or she gets his daily bread as well as providing for those depending on him. At such a time, one is determined to go an extra mile no matter what it costs to ensure that he achieves his objective. Consequently, people are found to violate the established rules in the name of trying to earn their living. Insecurity and war erupts during such times as people try to look for means of satisfying their needs.
Conversely, Collier and Hoeffler (2002, pp. 22-32), asserts that war leads to poverty. The scholars claim that conflict and war in most nations have been found to exacerbate the rate of poverty in the affected nations. In their arguments, they have come up with two reasons that clearly give the relationship between war and poverty. Whenever war erupts in the country, its normal operations are adversely affected. It becomes difficult for people in the affected areas to continue with their normal economic activities. It becomes hard for such people to provide for their families as well as for the government to provide basic social amenities. Slowed economic growth in the affected country or region eventually leads to the affected society ending up in poverty.
Another reason given by Collier and Hoeffler as they try to give the relationship between poverty and war is that war leads to all the public resources being used up in the attempt to bring to an end the war as well as saving the affected people. For instance, during the normalcy period, most countries spend limited resources on military preparedness. However, when war emerges, most of the resources are directed towards equipping the military with the necessary facilities. It becomes hard for the country to get enough resources to provide for all the required public amenities. Consequently, the public faces a deficiency in services offered by the state as most of its income is channeled to addressing matters to do with war.
A review of Journal of Conflict Resolution by Hess Gregory D
Hess uses data from 152 countries across the world to determine the relationship between war and poverty. When determining what leads to both internal and external conflicts within countries, recession was identified as one of the factors that trigger wars in different countries. This was reached upon by using Markov model of probability that explains the impacts of the switch from tranquility to war on state’s economy. It was identified that war and poverty are interdependent.
Conclusion
Poverty and war or conflict has been found to be closely interrelated with each leading to the other. Most of the developing countries that suffer from civil wars have been found to be incapacitated economic wise. On the other hand, countries with weak economies have occasionally suffered from conflict.
Reference List
Abadie, A. (2006). Poverty, Political Freedom, and the Roots of Terrorism, American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings, 2006.
Collier, P. & Hoeffler, A. (2002). On the Incidence of Civil War in Africa. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 46(1), pp. 22-32.
Hess, D. (2002). The Temporal Links Between Conflict and Economic Activity. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 46(1), p. 12.