Marie Besançon

2003

"Women in the Northern Ireland Peace Process: A Novel Use of Expected Utility in Bridging the Gap between the Quantitative Scholars and the Policy Pundits"

Working Paper

By Marie Besançon, Former Associate, International Security Program/Initiative on Religion and International Affairs, 2008; Research Fellow, ISP, 2006–2007; ISP/Governance Initiative in the Middle East, 2005–2006; Intrastate Conflict Program, 2003–2006; ISP/WAPPP, 2002–2003

Beginning the process of bridging the gap between the quantitative scholars and the policy community, I draw on an expected utility model to analyze the perceptions that the various parties in Northern Ireland have of the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition and to assess the effectiveness of their strategy toward achieving disarmament in the peace process.

August 9, 2007

"Facing a Fragile Situation in Darfur"

Op-Ed, Boston Globe

By Marie Besançon, Former Associate, International Security Program/Initiative on Religion and International Affairs, 2008; Research Fellow, ISP, 2006–2007; ISP/Governance Initiative in the Middle East, 2005–2006; Intrastate Conflict Program, 2003–2006; ISP/WAPPP, 2002–2003

DARFUR has grabbed the attention of the nation. Activist groups have done remarkable jobs of raising awareness of human suffering and have deterred starvation for millions of people in Darfur. Millions of dollars in aid — mostly from the United States — have reached this group of displaced people. However, this success is fragile....

August 9, 2007

"Facing a Fragile Situation in Darfur"

Op-Ed, Boston Globe

By Marie Besançon, Former Associate, International Security Program/Initiative on Religion and International Affairs, 2008; Research Fellow, ISP, 2006–2007; ISP/Governance Initiative in the Middle East, 2005–2006; Intrastate Conflict Program, 2003–2006; ISP/WAPPP, 2002–2003

DARFUR has grabbed the attention of the nation. Activist groups have done remarkable jobs of raising awareness of human suffering and have deterred starvation for millions of people in Darfur. Millions of dollars in aid — mostly from the United States — have reached this group of displaced people. However, this success is fragile....

August 9, 2007

"Facing a Fragile Situation in Darfur"

Op-Ed, Boston Globe

By Marie Besançon, Former Associate, International Security Program/Initiative on Religion and International Affairs, 2008; Research Fellow, ISP, 2006–2007; ISP/Governance Initiative in the Middle East, 2005–2006; Intrastate Conflict Program, 2003–2006; ISP/WAPPP, 2002–2003

DARFUR has grabbed the attention of the nation. Activist groups have done remarkable jobs of raising awareness of human suffering and have deterred starvation for millions of people in Darfur. Millions of dollars in aid — mostly from the United States — have reached this group of displaced people. However, this success is fragile....

September, 2003

Good Governance Rankings: The Art of Measurement

Report

By Marie Besançon, Former Associate, International Security Program/Initiative on Religion and International Affairs, 2008; Research Fellow, ISP, 2006–2007; ISP/Governance Initiative in the Middle East, 2005–2006; Intrastate Conflict Program, 2003–2006; ISP/WAPPP, 2002–2003

August 9, 2007

"Facing a Fragile Situation in Darfur"

Op-Ed, Boston Globe

By Marie Besançon, Former Associate, International Security Program/Initiative on Religion and International Affairs, 2008; Research Fellow, ISP, 2006–2007; ISP/Governance Initiative in the Middle East, 2005–2006; Intrastate Conflict Program, 2003–2006; ISP/WAPPP, 2002–2003

DARFUR has grabbed the attention of the nation. Activist groups have done remarkable jobs of raising awareness of human suffering and have deterred starvation for millions of people in Darfur. Millions of dollars in aid — mostly from the United States — have reached this group of displaced people. However, this success is fragile....

July 1, 2005

"Relative Resources: Inequality in Ethnic Wars, Revolutions and Genocides"

Journal Article, Journal of Peace Research, issue 4, volume 42

By Marie Besançon, Former Associate, International Security Program/Initiative on Religion and International Affairs, 2008; Research Fellow, ISP, 2006–2007; ISP/Governance Initiative in the Middle East, 2005–2006; Intrastate Conflict Program, 2003–2006; ISP/WAPPP, 2002–2003

Political scientists and economists have exhaustively examined the nexus between economic inequality and political conflict (EI-PC nexus) in aggregated civil wars. The following essay revisits the nexus and its related theories, empirically and parsimoniously testing the effects of inequality on disaggregated intrastate conflicts. The results buttress the notion that traditionally deprived identity groups are more likely to engage in conflict under more economically equal conditions, while class or revolutionary wars fall under the conditions of greater economic inequality and war. Of the three types of conflicts tested—ethnic conflicts, revolutions and genocides—economic inequality seems to have the most ambiguous bearing on genocides. Support follows for recent findings that political and social equalities are of greater importance in mitigating ethnic violence and that greed factors might exacerbate violence in all civil conflicts, including genocides.

August 9, 2007

"Facing a Fragile Situation in Darfur"

Op-Ed, Boston Globe

By Marie Besançon, Former Associate, International Security Program/Initiative on Religion and International Affairs, 2008; Research Fellow, ISP, 2006–2007; ISP/Governance Initiative in the Middle East, 2005–2006; Intrastate Conflict Program, 2003–2006; ISP/WAPPP, 2002–2003

DARFUR has grabbed the attention of the nation. Activist groups have done remarkable jobs of raising awareness of human suffering and have deterred starvation for millions of people in Darfur. Millions of dollars in aid — mostly from the United States — have reached this group of displaced people. However, this success is fragile....

July 1, 2005

"Relative Resources: Inequality in Ethnic Wars, Revolutions and Genocides"

Journal Article, Journal of Peace Research, issue 4, volume 42

By Marie Besançon, Former Associate, International Security Program/Initiative on Religion and International Affairs, 2008; Research Fellow, ISP, 2006–2007; ISP/Governance Initiative in the Middle East, 2005–2006; Intrastate Conflict Program, 2003–2006; ISP/WAPPP, 2002–2003

Political scientists and economists have exhaustively examined the nexus between economic inequality and political conflict (EI-PC nexus) in aggregated civil wars. The following essay revisits the nexus and its related theories, empirically and parsimoniously testing the effects of inequality on disaggregated intrastate conflicts. The results buttress the notion that traditionally deprived identity groups are more likely to engage in conflict under more economically equal conditions, while class or revolutionary wars fall under the conditions of greater economic inequality and war. Of the three types of conflicts tested—ethnic conflicts, revolutions and genocides—economic inequality seems to have the most ambiguous bearing on genocides. Support follows for recent findings that political and social equalities are of greater importance in mitigating ethnic violence and that greed factors might exacerbate violence in all civil conflicts, including genocides.

July 1, 2005

"Relative Resources: Inequality in Ethnic Wars, Revolutions and Genocides"

Journal Article, Journal of Peace Research, issue 4, volume 42

By Marie Besançon, Former Associate, International Security Program/Initiative on Religion and International Affairs, 2008; Research Fellow, ISP, 2006–2007; ISP/Governance Initiative in the Middle East, 2005–2006; Intrastate Conflict Program, 2003–2006; ISP/WAPPP, 2002–2003

Political scientists and economists have exhaustively examined the nexus between economic inequality and political conflict (EI-PC nexus) in aggregated civil wars. The following essay revisits the nexus and its related theories, empirically and parsimoniously testing the effects of inequality on disaggregated intrastate conflicts. The results buttress the notion that traditionally deprived identity groups are more likely to engage in conflict under more economically equal conditions, while class or revolutionary wars fall under the conditions of greater economic inequality and war. Of the three types of conflicts tested—ethnic conflicts, revolutions and genocides—economic inequality seems to have the most ambiguous bearing on genocides. Support follows for recent findings that political and social equalities are of greater importance in mitigating ethnic violence and that greed factors might exacerbate violence in all civil conflicts, including genocides.