How integrated are agricultural markets in conflict-affected states? We answer this question by examining the dynamics of monthly price series of rice, maize and sorghum across eleven cities (markets) of Somalia. Using conflict as a source of transaction costs between spatially connected markets, we examine its role in price transmission between the markets in a panel smooth transition regression framework. We find that in the case of rice—an imported cereal grain—conflict tends to reduce the speed of price transmission between markets. By contrast, we find no evidence of conflict-related transaction costs in the case of maize and sorghum—commodities that are locally produced, particularly in the central and southern parts of Somalia. In all instances, we find that there is some degree of spatial integration among cereal markets around the country, perhaps partly due to informal institutions that can bridge the divides created by conflict, distance and internal political fragmentation. These findings add crucial detail to the literature concerned with the role of commodity prices on poverty and food security in conflict-affected states.

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Oman's developmental trajectory is a 'positive outlier' to most post-colonial states, particularly those with significant natural resource reserves. Its trajectory confounds many of the usual expectations surrounding the impact of rentier incomes on conflict and inclusive development. This piece attempts to disentangle the threads of Oman's apparent good fortune to reveal characteristics of its political settlement that may (and may not) have salience elsewhere. This paper spotlights the influence of narrative and the non-domestic factors that played pivotal roles in the formation and evolution of the political settlement, suggesting that both have generally been understated within the literature to date.

The internationally unrecognized ‘Republic of Somaliland’ presents a case in which the domestic drivers of peace and development may be examined when aid and other forms of international intervention are not significant variables. The relative autonomy of its peace process offers an alternative perspective on post‐conflict transitions to that offered in the majority of the literature, which instead problematizes either the perverse outcomes or unintended consequences of international interventions in conflict‐affected areas. The purpose of this article is not to establish the salience of Somaliland's relative isolation in its ability to achieve peace and relative political order, as this is already documented in the literature. Rather, it explores the ways in which that isolation fostered mutual dependence between powerful political and economic actors for their survival and prosperity. It uses a political settlements framework to probe the implications of this dependence for western statebuilding interventions in post‐conflict situations. The findings present a challenge to orthodox assumptions about how states transition out of conflict, particularly that: greater vertical inclusivity necessarily strengthens a political settlement; effective Weberian institutions are a prerequisite of an enduring peace; and that external assistance is usually necessary to end large‐scale violence in developing states or to prevent a recurrence of the conflict.

Why did America’s counter-terrorism strategy in Yemen fail to contain al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula in the years prior to the Yemeni government’s collapse in 2015? Moreover, why did the US administration think that its strategy was successful? This article draws from field research in Yemen and a diverse array of other Yemeni sources to argue that the answer lies in the fact that there are two broad, but ultimately irreconcilable, ontologies of what al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula ‘really is’: one legible, organisationally rational and thus governable; and one not entirely so. I argue that by targeting tangible elements of al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula (such as its leaders, sources of revenue and bases) in partnership with the Yemeni state security apparatus, the strategy strengthened the group’s less coherent aspects. As a result, Western counter-terrorism practices target a stripped-down, synoptic version of the group while missing, even empowering, the shadowy appendage of state or hegemonic power that animates popular Yemeni discourses. This article is concerned with what al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula looks like when we prioritise Yemeni observations about how it emerged and is reproduced. I argue that seeing al-Qa’ida as at least partly illegible removes counter-terrorism’s obvious targets, making it more suited to quelling anxieties than actually preventing terrorism.

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Representations of the pig can be found in a wide variety of visual material worldwide, and throughout time. The term ‘pig’ is used here as a general term to cover all domestic and wild forms of Sus scrofa (where relevant and possible precise distinction between these forms will be specified). The images that exist, vary in terms of the form or shape of the pig, the representation of its characteristic features according to sex (male–boar vs female–sow), form (domestic or wild), age (adult pig or piglet), or physical characteristics (i.e. snout, tusks, tail, trotters, hair and hide coloration, razorback, and bristles). A visual appreciation of different living forms can be found in works such as Burnie (2001) or Buczacki (2002). This chapter is concerned with the creation and use of visual images of the pig. It offers a selection of materials dating in range from the medieval to the early modern period and will cite selected examples to represent continuity or change in the use of images where appropriate. The materials providing representations of the pig include (but are not exclusive to) illuminated manuscripts, prints and posters, engravings and drawings on either parchment or paper, canvas paintings, stained and painted glass, wood carvings, embroidery and textiles, stonework, moulded or cast metal, ceramic wares, and figurines. Exclusive porcine works discussing this iconography include those by Foster (1977), Ryba (1983), Brochier (1988), Bonera (1991), and Lawson (1995). In addition to depictions of pigs, functional and decorative and artistic uses were also found for the inedible body parts of real pigs such as the tusks appearing in visual cultural materials reflecting the precious value of the animal by some people. The main approach of this paper is thematic in order to emphasize how visual representations of the pig have had associations with filth, shame, lust, fantasy, care and consumption, inspiration, and human identity. Many assumptions have been made about the relative importance of the sources of inspiration drawn upon for the creation of particular images or motifs in the surviving media, and the availability of these to their creators (for a discussion on the practice of artistic transmission during the Middle Ages, see Scheller 1995).

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