This article exploits variation between and within countries to examine the legacy of
recorded conflicts in Africa in the precolonial period between 1400 and 1700. There are …

Though European colonialism had a profound and lasting impact on the development of
contemporary Africa, there are few studies that assess these effects empirically. This study …

I examine empirically the role of historical political centralization on the likelihood of modern
civil conflict in Sub-Saharan Africa. I combine a wide variety of historical sources to construct …

Research on the relationship between political institutions and civil war has paid insufficient
attention to the role of traditional institutions in developing countries. This study presents …

Contrary to popular belief, Africa's civil wars are not due to its ethnic and religious diversity.
Using recently developed models of the overall incidence of civil wars in 161 countries …

Abstract Sub-Saharan Africa combines all the major risk factors commonly associated with
the onset of civil war. Accordingly, it is the world's most conflict-intensive region, with 24 out …

We show new evidence that the consequences of historical warfare for state development
differ for Sub-Saharan Africa. We identify the locations of more than 1,600 conflicts in Africa …

Why has postcolonial Africa been so vulnerable to military coups? Examination of the
different types of military interventions (plots, attempts, and successful seizures) and …

Is the traditional logic by which violent conflict fosters long-run political development
universal? To help address this question, this article compares Europe with China. While …

Military interventions are strategic in understanding “who gets what, when, and how” in
postcolonial Africa. Building on past structural explanations of African coups, we examine …