The costs of our conflicts

The very high cost of rebuilding Gaza and other regional disasters is on people’s minds in the Middle East and beyond. Whether we are talking about the havoc wreaked by Israel’s summer war in 2006 against Lebanon, the more recent Nahr al-Bared conflict there, or numerous other episodes during the past few decades of large-scale fighting, there is no shortage in the region of massive destruction caused by war. Of course, the first and biggest cost in conflict is the incalculable loss of a human life, and there is no yardstick to measure this. With so many people in the region suffering, it may seem callous to discuss the economic costs of conflict. Yet, these are enormous and go well beyond budgetary outlays, so quantifying things might be a good way to wake everybody up to the enormity of our problems. Done properly, this will hopefully show decision-makers and the