The OECD Development Assistance Committee and Peace: Instituting Peace by Economic Means

This chapter provides an in-depth analysis of the OECD-DAC’s role in promoting peace through economic means. We study the OECD’s role in the making of the economic peace paradigm; and the ways in which the organization translated this paradigm into policy principles over time. Adopting a historical-contextual interpretative approach and building upon data obtained from the OECD’s website and archives as well as secondary sources covering the period between 1961 and 2017, this chapter shows the pivotal role of OECD-DAC in advancing the economic peace paradigm, most notably through its ODA concept. However, our findings also indicate that impacts of these efforts are first and foremost ideational, structuring development thinking, rather than contributing to a more peaceful world.