1
Introduction
For every interstate or civil war, populations of states suffer short-term and long-term effects
on their health and well-being. To understand the real cost of violent conflict, it is necessary
to take into account the human cost of war. Violent conflict can have economic, social, po-
litical, and environmental consequences. A large number of conflict studies focus on causes
of conflict, a small body of literature exists about the termination of conflict, and there is a
developing literature about the various consequences of conflict. Yet the health consequences
of war remain largely unexplored. The effects of conflict on a society continue long after the
actual fighting has ceased and understanding the social consequences of conflict is especially
important if the goal is to mitigate the suffering that results from violence. The effect of con-
flict on public health is a social consequence of conflict to which not much attention has been
paid. While scholars have examined some aspects of the economic and political consequences
of conflict, far less work has been done on the manner in which conflict undermines public
health. In this paper, I assess the effect of the economic cost of war on population health
by evaluating the relationship between violent conflict and public expenditures. I argue that
involvement in violent conflict causes a reduction in social spending, including public health
expenditures, compared to pre-war levels. Moreover, states involved in conflict are likely
to experience a decline in wealth and rates of economic growth, exacerbating trade-offs in
defense and social welfare.
The traditional approaches to the study of security focus undue attention on the state-
level impact of conflict. The idea of security is generally considered synonymous with pro-
tecting the territory and national interests of a state from external aggression or unwelcome
interference. Once a state is able to safeguard its military, territorial, and political interests
from outside threats, it is perceived to have attained national security. The emerging notion
of human security, on the other hand, addresses the security of ordinary people (Annan 2000;
1
Convention