Author(s): Paul Collier

Current Affairs

In Wars, Guns and Votes, award-winning author Paul Collier investigates the violence and poverty in the countries at the bottom of the world economy that are home to a billion people. A highly-regarded economist and expert on developing countries, Collier argues that the spread of elections and peace settlements in the world's most volatile countries may lead eventually to a brave new democratic world. In the meantime, though, nasty and protracted civil wars, military coups, and failing economies will plague the bottom billion - unless national sovereignty is curtailed and economic disciplines introduced. Through innovative research and astute analysis, Collier provides an eye-opening assessment of the ethnic divisions and insecurity in the developing countries of Africa, Latin America, and Asia where the democratic process so often fails. There have been many policy failures by the United States, the UK and other developed countries since the end of the Cold War, especially the reliance on pre-emptive military intervention, but Collier insists that these problems can and will be rectified. He persuasively outlines what must be done to bring long-term peace and stability. Author Biography: Paul Collier is a professor of economics at Oxford University. The author of The Bottom Billion, which won the 2008 Lionel Gelber Prize for the world's best book on international affairs, he has lectured widely on the subjects of economics and international relations.