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Key Text Violence and Economic Agendas in Civil Wars: Some Policy Implications

Author: M Berdal and D Keen
Date: 1997
Size: 23 pages

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Summary

Since the late 1980s, efforts by external actors to resolve civil wars have increased dramatically. But progress in establishing peace has been poor. One factor is the lack of attention paid to the political economy of conflict and the purposes that violence may serve in weak and divided states. How can external actors minimise the damage to peace building caused by the economic agendas of conflict participants?

This article for the Journal of International Studies analyses conflicts and peace efforts in several African, Asian and Central American countries, revealing the crucial role played by economics. The pursuit of ‘rational’ economic goals by conflict participants is often a major factor behind the continuation of a war that otherwise seems illogical. People at all levels of society can profit from conflict to the extent that peace seems unattractive. Or violence may offer a degree of economic security that is preferable to the uncertain prospects of peace. Conflict can only be tackled by taking into account the non-political functions of violence and the economic benefits it can bring.

A number of non- political factors are shown to have fuelled the conflict in Sierra Leone and Cambodia. In both these and other countries, the failure of external actors to give adequate consideration to economic factors in particular has undermined peace efforts. Problems tend to occur where:

Access to lucrative resources, such as gems and timber in Cambodia, enriches conflict participants. War is profitable, and there is no incentive to end it. In Cambodia, it was only after the US threatened sanctions that Thailand put a stop to illegal border trade, leading to major defections from the Khmer Rouge.
Disarmament and demobilisation are thwarted by concerns about economic security and control of resources. In Angola, efforts have been delayed by combatants' fears of losing their spoils from the diamond trade, and in Central America, by problems of land redistribution to ex-fighters.
Military forces have continued to participate in illegal economic activities and organised crime. This has derailed attempts to restructure the ‘security sector’, where there is a need for a clean break with the past.

To be successful, peace-building assistance offered by external actors must recognise and address the economic agendas and other non-political functions of violence in civil wars. There are four specific considerations:

Where violence is economically motivated, it is not likely to end until the needs of all actors, which may be conflicting, have been met.
In the face of opposition from traditional power elites, international efforts to assist with and monitor the restructuring of the armed and police forces should continue beyond short-term operations.
As war profiteers often rely on international trade and finance, they may be targeted with sanctions, but these should be used carefully as blanket sanctions can backfire.
Attempts to introduce democratic reforms are sometimes met with hostility by those who have benefited from violent conflict, and without adequate funds, it may be difficult to reconcile the interests of those beneficiaries with others seeking more equal distribution of resources.

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Source: Berdal M. and Keen D., 1997, 'Violence and Economic Agendas in Civil Wars: Some Policy Implications', Millennium: Journal of International Studies, London, Vol. 26, No. 3, pp. 795-818.
Author: David Keen , d.keen@lse.ac.uk
Organisation: London School of Economics (LSE), http://www.lse.ac.uk/