Education and War

A little discussion that I took part in this week has got me thinking about whether higher education means people are less likely to engage in violent conflict. I am sure studies have been done on this, but I decided to do my own bit of data analysis.

I compared the number of violent conflicts (by geographical region) since 1990 to the average years of schooling reached by adults (by geographical region) and found a distinct correlation (-.7935). The negative sign means that the more years of education, the fewer number of violent conflicts that occur in a particular region. 100 countries were represented in the education statistics - notably many in Africa were missing. However, the state of education in the missing countries does not vary greatly from most of the rest of the continent.

What does this mean? Educated people are probably much less likely to engage in violent conflict. People need teachers, not weapons.

Sources:
Education info from UNESCO via NationMaster.com (http://www.nationmaster.com/red/graph/edu_ave_yea_of_sch_of_adu-education-average-years-schooling-adults&b_map=1&b_printable=1)
Conflict info from PRIO (http://www.prio.no/CSCW/Datasets/Armed-Conflict/)

Curse the lying desert skies

Cool breezes and a gray blanket give respite; whispers wander through the airs, a scent of dust and moisture.

Unfulfilled promises leave me wanting.