Disarming Fears of Diversity : Ethnic Heterogeneity and State Militarization, 1988-2002

de Soysa, Indra ; Neumayer, Eric

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: ARMAMENTS;    ARMED CONFLICT;    ARMED CONFLICTS;    ARMS;    ARMS RACE;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-4221
RP-ID  :  WPS4221

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

The authors address the question ofstate militarization under conditions of ethnic and otherdiversity. "Primordialist" claims about ancienthatreds, fear, and insecurity in such societies would leadone to expect that fractionalization, polarization, andethno-nationalist exclusion would prompt governments tomilitarize heavily. But contrary to such expectations, theauthors find that higher levels of ethnic diversity predictlower levels of militarization, whereas higher polarizationand ethno-nationalist exclusion trigger neither lower norhigher levels of militarization. If fractionalization lowersthe hazard of civil war, as many find, then it does nothappen by way of a "garrison state" effect. Theauthors discuss two potential explanations for theirfindings, one drawing from the empirical conflictliterature, the other stemming from economists' studyof public goods provision under conditions of diversity.They argue that their findings are best seen as consistentwith and complementary to the empirical literature onconflict onset and duration.