‘External Stresses’ and Violence Mitigation in Fragile Contexts: Setting the Stage for Policy Analysis

By Schultze-Kraft, Markus.

Following on from the World Bank’s World Development Report 2011 on conflict, security and development, a debate has emerged about the role of so-called ‘external stresses’ in generating ‘new’ forms of violence and insecurity in poor and fragile countries.

The Bank posits that the combination of internal stresses (e.g. low income levels, high youth unemployment) and external stresses (e.g. cross-border conflict spillovers, illicit drug trafficking) heightens the risk of different forms of violence, which are not confined to inter-state and civil war but range from communal conflicts to criminal violence and terrorism.

Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies, 2013. 15p.