PRIO Network

Peer-reviewed-Journal-Article
Predicting Armed Conflict, 2010-2050
Hegre, Håvard;Nygård, Håvard Mokleiv;Strand, Håvard;Urdal, Henrik; & Karlsen, Joakim (2013) Predicting Armed Conflict, 2010-2050 , International Studies Quarterly 55(2): 1–21. [Forthcoming]

The article predicts changes in global and regional incidences of armed conflict for the 2010–2050 period. The predictions are based on a dynamic multinomial logit model estimation on a 1970–2009 cross-sectional data set of changes between no armed conflict, minor conflict, and major conflict. Core exogenous predictors are population size, infant mortality rates, demographic composition, education levels, oil dependence, ethnic cleavages, and neighborhood characteristics. Predictions are obtained through simulating the behavior of the conflict variable implied by the estimates from this model. We use projections for the 2011–2050 period for the predictors from the UN World Population Prospects and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis. We treat conflicts, recent conflict history, and neighboring conflicts as endogenous variables. Out-of-sample validation of predictions for 2007–2009 (based on estimates for the 1970–2000 period) indicates that the model predicts well, with an area under the receiver operator curve of 0.937. Using a p > .30 threshold for positive prediction, the true positive rate 7–9 years into the future is 0.79 and the False Positive Rate 0.085. We predict a continued decline in the proportion of the world's countries that have internal armed conflict, from about 15% in 2009 to 7% in 2050. The decline is particularly strong in the Western Asia and North Africa region and less clear in Africa south of Sahara. The remaining conflict countries will increasingly be concentrated in East, Central, and Southern Africa and in East and South Asia.

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Article

Håvard Hegre

Håvard Hegre

Research Professor at PRIO, Working Group Leader CSCW

48 09 53 21
Hhegre@prio.no

Håvard Mokleiv Nygård

Håvard Mokleiv Nygård

Doctoral Researcher

+4722547798
havnyg@prio.no

Håvard Strand

Håvard Strand

Senior Researcher

+47 22 54 77 95
hs@prio.no

Henrik Urdal

Henrik Urdal

Senior Researcher, CSCW, Editor, Journal of Peace Research; Research Fellow, Kennedy School, Harvard University (2011-12)

47 22 54 77 20 (on leave 2011-12)
henriku@prio.no