Wars, Guns, and Votes
Wars, Guns, and Votes, Paul Collier investigates the violence and poverty in the small, remote countries at the lowest level of the world economy. An esteemed economist and a foremost authority on developing countries, Collier argues that the spread of elections and peace settlements in the world's most dangerous countries may lead to a brave new democratic world. In the meantime, though, nasty and long civil wars, military coups, and failing economies are the order of the day — for now and into the foreseeable future.Through innovative research and astute analysis, Collier gives an eye-opening assessment of the ethnic divisions and insecurites in the developing countries of Africa, Latin America, and Asia, where corruption is often firmly rooted in the body politic. There have been many policy failures by the United States and other developed countries since the end of the Cold War, especially the reliance on preemptive military intervention. But Collier insists that these problems can and will be rectified. He persuasively outlines what must be done to bring peace and stability: the international community must intervene through aid, democracy building, and a very limited amount of force. Groundbreaking and provocative, Wars, Guns, and Votes is a passionate and convincing argument for the peaceful development of the most volatile places on earth.
Stats for nerds
3recommend
4mentions
3people
2010–2019years
100% recommend
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- That's true but most of the people who have lived have been relatively poor and ignorant. Empirically, there seems to be a transition point in development where democracy goes from making a country less stable to making it more stable and I've actually forgotten exactly what the level was but China will be past it soon if it isn't already. I really have to re-read Wars, Guns, and Votes.
- I'm just going to answer with the books that rearranged my understanding of the world the most. In no particular order.
"Thinking Fast and Slow" by Daniel Kahneman.
"Quantum Computing since Democritus" by Scott Aaronson.
"The Strategy of Conflict" by Thomas Schelling.
"Guns, Germs, and Steel" and "The World until Yesterday" by Jared Diamond.
"The Retreat To Commitment" by W. W. Bartley.
"The Myth of the Rational Voter" by Bryan Caplan. Despite the name it made me appreciate democracy a lot more.
"Wars, Guns, and Votes" by Paul Collier.
- A few good reads on the topic are F. Fukuyama "Trust: Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity" and P. Collier "The bottom Billion" and "Wars, Guns and Votes: Democracy in Dangerous Places".
- Zeitoun by Dave Eggers. A sad story about a guy named Zeitoun in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
Wars, Guns, and Votes: Democracy in Dangerous Places by Paul Collier. Someone smart thinks about how to move failed states toward democracy in such a way that it sticks.
Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama. A good memoir, but particularly interesting because he wrote it before he was famous.
Cliff Walk by Don Snyder. An English professor gets fired and becomes a carpenter. Great if academia irritates you.
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