Can Economic Interventions Reduce Violence? New Evidence from Kandahar

Reducing violence and preventing the growth of violent movements are perennial challenges for the international community and the role of economic interventions has long been debated. A new report from Mercy Corps and the Political Violence FieldLab at Yale University brings new evidence to the debate based on a randomized controlled trial in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province. Can youth employment programs and cash transfers make a difference?

New America welcomes Dr. Rebecca Wolfe, Director of Evidence and Influence for Peace and Conflict at Mercy Corps, Prof. Jason Lyall, Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the Political Violence FieldLab at Yale University, and John Dempsey, a fellow with New America’s International Security program and former senior advisor to Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke and his successors in the State Department’s Office of the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, to discuss the evidence from Kandahar. 

Participants: 

Rebecca Wolfe, @rebeccajwolfe 
Director of Evidence and Influence for Peace and Conflict, Mercy Corps 

Jason Lyall, @jaylyall_red5
Director, Political Violence FieldLab 
Associate Professor, Yale 

John Dempsey
Fellow, New America International Security program

Moderator: 

Luke Hartig 
Fellow, New America International Security program 
Former Senior Director for Counterterrorism, National Security Council