Arming Development: Measuring the Effects of Development Aid on Armed Conflict. An Analysis on West Africa, 1990-2020
Abstract
Did the securitization of the development aid to West Africa lead to an increase in armed conflict and one-sided violence? The goal of this research is to provide evidence that development aid allocation following the September 11th terror attacks had undergone securitization that led to an increase in casualties from armed conflict and one-sided violence in West Africa. I argue the Global War on Terror shifted development aid allocation from development projects to security projects in countries that were geostrategic partners. My approach is based on the Security Complex theory conceptualization of development aid in West African countries. Using both a PCSE and fixed effects regression estimators with pooled time-series data taken from 15 West African countries between 1990-2020, I find that individual bilateral and multilateral development aid has little effect on the increase of casualties from armed conflict and one-sided violence. Alternatively, the combined bilateral and multilateral development aid does have an effect on casualties.
Subject Area
International Relations|Military studies|African Studies
Recommended Citation
Collins, Alyk, "Arming Development: Measuring the Effects of Development Aid on Armed Conflict. An Analysis on West Africa, 1990-2020" (2023). ETD Collection for University of Texas, El Paso. AAI30527190.
https://scholarworks.utep.edu/dissertations/AAI30527190