Peace Economics: A Macroeconomic Primer for Violence-Afflicted States

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$19.95 (Paper)
978-1-60127-138-9


USIP Press Books
September 2012
172 pp. , 6" x 9"

“Essential reading for any person interested in understanding and assessing the costs of war and how to create real incentives to secure stable peace. The twelve design principles for building peaceful institutions and the four policy lessons brilliantly provide policymakers and concerned citizens with economic and social tools to rebuild trust, social capital, and cooperative harmonious social and political relationships."
Kevin Clements, professor and director, National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

Creating sound economic policy and a stable macroeconomic framework is essential to societies recovering from violent conflict, yet few practitioners have the background needed to apply economic concepts effectively. To provide practitioners with a concise but broad overview of macroeconomic fundamentals as they touch on violence afflicted states, Brauer and Dunne have created Peace Economics. Filling a gap in the literature on peace design from an economic perspective, Peace Economics extends beyond economic principles into the wider realm of social reconstitution, social contract, and social capital in the hopes of helping practitioners build a more stable peace.

Peace Economics is the first volume of the U.S. Institute of Peace Academy Guides, a series developed by the Institute’s Academy for International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding. The Academy is a professional education and training center offering practitioner courses on conflict prevention, management, and resolution. Future volumes will address governance and democratic practices in war-to-peace transitions and engaging in identity-based differences, among other topics. Combining theory and practice and emphasizing strategic thinking, these resources are geared for policymakers; third parties (civic leaders, journalists, or government, military, and NGO personnel) working in conflict zones; as well as for students of conflict management and peacebuilding.