Poverty, Inequality and Conflict
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While there is a general view that poverty and inequality can lead to conflict and are
therefore in this sense security issues, the precise nature of the links is less well
appreciated. Focusing on conflicts within states, this paper draws out the links based on
the recent economics literature, and discusses their implications for policy. It is argued
that while inequality is a natural concomitant of economic processes, particularly those
driven by the market, its implications for security emerge when unequal outcomes align
with socio-political cleavages. Such an alignment can turn a benign outcome, in which
increasing inequality might even help economic efficiency, into one in which conflict
worsens the climate for investment even before, in the extreme, a collapse of the social
order. A careful assessment of the intersection between economic outcomes and social
divisions is necessary in designing policies and interventions for growth and poverty
reduction.