MIDWEST POLICY INSTITUTE
An Economic Policy Think Tank Connecting the Heartland and the World.
Economics & Peacebuilding
Countries have become increasingly resistant to peacebuilding through military interventions, opting instead for an economic approach. Yet, in 2011, the World Development Report indicated the link between unemployment and violence is still unclear.
Indeed, knowledge about economic interventions and the mechanisms through which they work is limited. Thus, we view this policy focus as particularly innovative. Because research is in early stages, the possible areas are quite broad and that is reflected in the areas of research we have chosen to focus attention more specifically.
Areas of Research:
Social Entrepreneurship and Peacebuilding
This area is quite exciting. Recent years have seen an explosion of interest in social entrepreneurship. The implications of this type of business for peacebuilding is becoming a major area of discussion as foundations, governments, and NGOs try to harness social entrepreneurs and their ideas to build stable and prosperous communities. Yet, there is little systematic documentation of this field which is necessary to make sense of its impact.
Foreign Aid and Economic Incentives
This broad category is necessarily changing as the number of donor countries diversifies and the heterogeneity of countries giving foreign aid to other countries rises. These shifts will bring important changes to the economic incentives for peacebuilding, some obvious and others more nuanced. Thus, it will be important to monitor and study these trends in coming years.