Since the end of the Cold War, major civil wars in developing countries have increased in number and in the magnitude of their effects.
Key issues concern the level of wealth and the role of the state.
Unless more is done to prevent humanitarian crises, the world will continue to spend vast sums on food aid, peacekeeping, and diplomacy to cope with humanitarian emergencies. Ernest Aryeetey, Julius Court, Machiko Nissanke, and Beatrice Weder One of the greatest challenges facing African governments in the next Century is how to strengthen their countries' participation in the global economy - and to do so in ways that bring widespread and sustainable benefits to their peoples. The key findings were that African countries will need to take a strategic approach toward the forces of globalization. In particular, the research highlighted the importance of institutional factors such as political commitment, administrative competence, and secure property and contract rights. As well as being important in their own right, institutional factors have implications for the pace, timing, and sequencing of policy reform.