TY - JOUR
T1 - Considering population and war
T2 - A critical and neglected aspect of conflict studies
AU - Thayer, B A
PY - 2009/10/27
Y1 - 2009/10/27
N2 - This study analyses the relationship between war and population. The impact of the growth and decline of population on important types of warfare—great power, small power, civil war as well as terrorism—is illustrated, with the objective in each case to be descriptive of risk. I find that population change has a significant impact on each, with the greatest causal impact on small power conflicts, civil war and upon terrorism. I conclude with some reasons for guarded optimism about the incorporation of population as a component of analysis in the discipline of international studies, and for the potential to devise new solutions to prevent conflict.
AB - This study analyses the relationship between war and population. The impact of the growth and decline of population on important types of warfare—great power, small power, civil war as well as terrorism—is illustrated, with the objective in each case to be descriptive of risk. I find that population change has a significant impact on each, with the greatest causal impact on small power conflicts, civil war and upon terrorism. I conclude with some reasons for guarded optimism about the incorporation of population as a component of analysis in the discipline of international studies, and for the potential to devise new solutions to prevent conflict.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=70350460062&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2009.0151
U2 - 10.1098/rstb.2009.0151
DO - 10.1098/rstb.2009.0151
M3 - Article
SN - 0962-8436
VL - 364
SP - 3081
EP - 3092
JO - Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B - Biological Sciences
JF - Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B - Biological Sciences
IS - 1532
ER -
