War Economy in the Contemporary Wars: In the Context of Central African Republic

Sabbir Ahmed

doi:10.35649/kubr.2018.13.12.5

Abstract

Purpose: Ideally, the war economy is a set of contingencies undertaken by a state to mobilize its economy for war production or to support the war. However, the existing explanation of war economy does not fit in the conflicts of the modern era. In modern days ‘new war’ or ‘contemporary war’ are mostly intrastate and fought amongst the brutal unregulated non-state actors. This paper discussed different aspects of contemporary war economy focusing on the ongoing civil war of Central African Republic. Design/Methodology/Approach: This paper is developed on the basis of published literature and authors own work experiences in the Central African Republic. A qualitative analytical method has been followed to develop this paper. Findings: This paper identifies the economic system that has been developed in the Central African Republic amidst the civil war for the last two decades. Findings of this analysis show that this war economy is self- financing and parasitic in nature where there is ‘more to war than winning’. Limitations: Due to political unrest and several civil wars for more than two decades, no actual survey could be done in the recent past. Therefore, further study can be conducted to statistically prove the points made in this study. Implications: By studying the war economy of any contemporary war, one can understand the nature of the war as well as the types of trade that govern the war. Originality/Value: There are few works of literature on the war economy, contemporary wars and also conflicts of Central African Republic. The paper tries to view the said civil war from the economic perspective and identifies a different aspect of the contemporary war economy.

Highlights

Roosevelt said in his speech on 29 December 1940, “if the Axis Powers win, we would have to convert ourselves permanently into a militaristic power on the basis of war economy” (Singer cited in Durham, 2015)
It is argued that new wars are motivated by economic gain; it is difficult to distinguish between those who use the cover of violence for economic reasons and those who engage in predatory economic activities to finance their political causes
The contemporary war economy tested in the context of Central African Republic (CAR) shows that despite having different sources of incomes it shares some common connotation with other contemporary war economies such as recycle of combatants, the involvement of global actors etc

Summary

Introduction

Roosevelt said in his speech on 29 December 1940, “if the Axis Powers win, we would have to convert ourselves permanently into a militaristic power on the basis of war economy” (Singer cited in Durham, 2015). Mueller (2004) claims that war is becoming outdated because of the involvement of brutal unregulated actors called ‘residual combatants’. The question remains whether this understanding of war economy fit in the modern era. These non-state actors developed a different system of the economy to support their war. The economy of contemporary intrastate war is totally different than that of common understanding

Methods

Results

Conclusion