Food Price Spikes and Social Unrest in Africa
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Date:
22 April 2013
In CCAPS Research Brief No. 11, Todd Smith seeks to unravel the complex and circular relationship between food prices and social unrest in Africa and to provide insight into potential causal mechanisms. His main finding is that a sudden increase in consumer food prices in a given month does contribute significantly to an increase in the probability of unrest in that month.
Climate Change, Global Food Markets, and Urban Unrest
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Date:
07 February 2013
In CCAPS Research Brief No. 7, Cullen Hendrix aruges that the very features of democracy that make it better suited to address the issues of the rural sector - where chronic food insecurity is most prevalent - also make democracies more likely to see unrest in times of high food prices.
Elections and Social Conflict in Africa
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Date:
07 February 2013
In CCAPS Research Brief No. 6, Idean Salehyan and Christopher Linebarger use the Social Conflict in Africa Database (SCAD) to assess the relationship between elections and unrest. The study found that elections increase conflict in two distinct contexts: during times of civil war, and in authoritarian systems.
Climate Shocks and Political Violence
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Date:
01 April 2012
In CCAPS Research Brief No. 3, Cullen Hendrix and Idean Salehyan analyze the relationship between drought and political violence. The authors find that environmental scarcity is not always a trigger of political violence. Political violence is more prevalent following years of "good" rainfall, and drought suppresses certain types of violence.
Climate Change, Rainfall, and Social Conflict in Africa
Date:
31 January 2012
In their article in the Journal of Peace Research, Cullen Hendrix and Idean Salehyan examine whether deviations from normal rainfall patterns affect the propensity for individuals and groups to engage in disruptive activities such as demonstrations, riots, strikes, communal conflict, and anti-government violence.
The Brewing Storm?
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Date:
01 February 2011
In CCAPS Policy Brief No. 2, Cullen Hendrix and Idean Salehyan examine climate change, rainfall, and social conflict in Africa. The authors argue that understanding and responding to the threat of climate-driven instability in Africa requires a definition of conflict that recognizes episodic unrest, riots, and demonstrations as well as interstate or civil war.
Science and the International Politics of Climate Change
Date:
01 June 2010
In their article in the Whitehead Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations, Cullen Hendrix and Idean Salehyan examine several reasons for the failure to reach an international treaty on climate change. They propose several policies and mechanisms through which countries can reach a meaningful agreement to limit carbon emissions.
