It is often argued that it is more cost effective to tackle conflicts before they reach the point of mass violence. While the general argument for more resources for prevention has considerable attraction, however, a more rigorous approach to estimating its cost and benefits is needed in order to be able to operationalise the concept. The objective of this study is to develop such an approach, and to illustrate how it might be operationalised.

The first working paper LINK outlines the methodology and summarises the main findings of the project. The second working paper LINK contains the three retrospective case studies (on the Western Balkans, Afghanistan, and Rwanda). The third working paper LINK contains the three prospective case studies (Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Sudan).

This project was made possible by support from the UK Department for International Development.

• Working paper 1 (586Kb PDF)
• Working paper 2 (815Kb PDF)
• Working paper 3 (949Kb PDF)