Causes Of Civil War Research Articles

Foreign experience of implementing ethical values in the anti-corruption policy of private and public sector organizations

The author analyzed and systematized the experience of foreign countries regarding the peculiarities of the implementation of ethical values in the anti-corruption policy of private and public sector organizations. Senior management when implementing anti­corruption standards, regardless of the form of ownership of the organization, when making management decisions, should be guided by their own ethical beliefs regarding their actions, display of integrity, ethics, influence on employees of lower management levels regarding the example of the prevalence of anti-corruption standards when making management decisions. The importance of the Codes of Ethics in encouraging the top management of the USA, EU, and Great Britain in the formation of organizational ethics and the reputation of international companies was established, and the strategic importance of leadership in the prevention of corruption in the formation of anti-corruption programs and the fight against corruption risks was determined in his work on leadership in the prevention of corruption. The experience of the USA, the EU, and Great Britain has shown that compliance with ethical behavior by the middle and lower ranks and, accordingly, the reduction of corruption risks, is mainly implemented taking into account the example set by the management in conducting the company's business. It has been found that the main ways of creating an ethical atmosphere are: establishment of values and principles of the organization, approval of Codes of Ethics, internal control, accountability, regular informing and holding of training events by the management with its mandatory participation regarding ethical values, trust in the management and its personal compliance on issues of corporate ethics in the absence of an ethics officer position. The practice of management implementation of ethical values in the anti-corruption policy of public authorities in Australia has shown that the ways of such implementation can be: the introduction of external control procedures open to the public, as well as confidential reporting procedures for senior management. The experience of Liberia, Kenya, and Georgia regarding leadership and corruption in the management of companies and in the public service as one of the main causes of civil wars is analyzed. Positive practices regarding the use of anti-corruption policy and the establishment of the role of leaders in the management of African countries have become the implementation of anti-corruption policy and strategy in the top management of countries, decentralization of power and the practice of identifying and returning illegally obtained funds of government officials to state accounts. The author summarizes effective ways of implementing ethical values in public sector organizations, using the example of Georgia, namely: political loyalty of management in the field of management in the fight against corruption; implementation of e-governance and e-services, long-term investments in building a corporate ethical culture, implementation of a mechanism for direct access to information on combating bribery to the company's top management, and encouraging employees to report suspicious activity related to corruption. Using the example of Estonia, the peculiarities of the role of management in overcoming corruption, the implementation of anti-corruption initiatives, certain trends regarding the role of the leadership of the law enforcement sphere in anti-corruption policy have been established. Estonian legislation has formed trends regarding the identification of the role of management in the formation of anti­corruption culture in law enforcement agencies through organizational views on corruption and the views of managers on overcoming corruption, in particular: the openness of top management to discussing anti-corruption issues in relation to their own organizations; focus on the organizational culture of non-perception of corruption starting from the top management level; integration into everyday practice of existing ethical standards; prevention of corruption risks associated with senior officials of organizations.

Economic decline, ethnonationalism and civil war onset

AbstractWithin the scholarship on the causes of civil wars, GDP per capita represents a strong and robust variable. Less attention, however, is paid to the role of economic decline. When it is included at all, scholars tend to consider it only in the period just prior to the onset of war. This paper argues that the impact of economic decline has been underestimated, for in addition to its short‐term effects, evidence from case studies reveals that a particular pattern is often evident during periods of sharp economic decline, in which ethnonationalist actors ascend in political power while scapegoating minority populations. The resulting increase in interethnic tensions raises the risk of large‐scale civil violence even many years after a major recession. The cases of Yugoslavia, Ivory Coast and India show the long‐term effects of a common exogenous shock‐ the global recession of the late 1970s‐ in the form of rising ethnonationalist political actors, setting the stage for large‐scale interethnic civil violence long after the initial economic shock.

Choosing tactics: Horizontal inequalities and the risk of violent and nonviolent conflict

Do disadvantaged ethnic groups favor violent over nonviolent conflict tactics? To understand when and why civil war breaks out, we need to study violent and nonviolent forms of conflict together, using analytical tools that can account for the choice between them. Yet, most large-N analyses of the causes of civil war do not account for nonviolent conflict, and vice versa. Because the mechanisms held to link horizontal inequalities to civil war closely resemble those used to explain largely nonviolent social movements, this article studies group disadvantages, political violence and nonviolent resistance together. To reduce concerns about selection bias in horizontal inequality research, it extends the analysis to socially as well as politically relevant groups around the world. A consensus is emerging that politically disadvantaged ethnic groups shun nonviolent tactics, because they lack ties to people close to the regime and its institutions. This article challenges the consensus, by showing that political group disadvantages predict nonviolent as well as violent forms of conflict. Groups’ economic status helps explain tactical choices. Among economically advantaged groups, political disadvantages increase the risk of nonviolent conflict. Among the economically disadvantaged, they facilitate violence. This pattern is strongest in situations where no policies are in place to remedy group disadvantages, in authoritarian and less economically open societies, and in analyses that account for conflicts of low intensity, to capture onsets early. The results point to the importance of economic and other forms of leverage, which have been largely overlooked in the econometric literature.

Not Too Distant: Grievance, Opportunity, and the Onset of Civil War

ABSTRACT Grievance and opportunity theories dominate research on the causes of civil war. However, theoretical and empirical problems limit their ability to explain variation in conflict onset. We argue that these problems partly stem from treating them as largely independent explanations. We integrate grievance and opportunity into a unified theory and argue that they are complements that jointly predict conflict. We apply insights from the interstate war literature to develop and test a theory of conflict onset that argues that the probability of civil war increases as the disparity between relative power and the status quo distribution of benefits increases.

Analysis of Africa's Great Green Wall Project in the Context of Climate and Water Policies

İklim değişiklikleri son yıllarda, özellikle ağır hasar yaratan meteorolojik olaylar, yaz aylarında aşırı ısı artışları ile yaşanan ölümler, yangınlar, tarım ürünlerindeki azalma, verimsizleşme ve su sorunları gibi etkileri neticesinde dünya genelinde daha fazla küresel tehdit olarak kabul edilmeye başlamıştır. İklim değişiklerinin etkileri bütün dünyada görülürken, bu süreçten Afrika daha fazla etkilenmiştir. Afrika’da iç savaşların önemli nedenleri arasında temiz suya ulaşım sorunları gelmektedir. İşsizliği, savaşları, hastalıkları, susuzluk ve kuraklığı getiren iklim koşulları Afrika’dan dünyanın diğer bölgelerine büyük kitlesel göç dalgalarını tetiklemektedir. Afrika’nın en yoğun düzensiz göç veren Sahel Bölgesi çatışma, kuraklık, çölleşme ve aşırı yoksulluğun yaşandığı ülkeleri içine alan bir alandır. Mevcut koşullar böyle devam ederse bu göçler, dünya genelinde gelişmiş ülkelerin yaşam kalitesini oldukça etkileyecektir. Halen bu durum yaşanmakla birlikte yakın gelecekte bu sorunların katlanacağı öngörülmektedir. Afrika Birliği tarafından 2007 yılında Büyük Afrika Yeşil duvarı projesi başlatılmıştır. Bu proje Sahra çölünü ağaçlandırarak, tarıma, yaşama ve istihdama verimli hale getirme projesi olarak tanımlanabilir. Afrika Büyük Yeşil Duvarının en önemli etkileri, iklim ve su politikalarına bağlı sürdürülebilir gelecek ile birlikte kadın istihdamı, yöre halkları için yaşam alanlarına sahip çıkma ve aidiyet duygularını güçlendirmesidir. Bu çalışmanın amacı küresel ölçekte iklim ve su sorunlarının çözümünde uluslararası büyük çaplı yeniden ormanlaştırma projelerine dikkat çekmektir. Bu yaklaşımla Büyük Afrika Yeşil Duvarı Projesi literatür taraması yöntemi ile incelenmektedir.

구한말 민중사상과 도교이미지, 그리고 도교서 언해*

In the late Joseon Dynasty, ideas in folk religions were closely related to Daoist themes. There were, for instance, folk ideas centered on Prophecies of Jeong Gam (鄭鑑錄 jeonggamrok) that developed into ‘raising island-armies (海島起兵說 hado gibyeongseol),’ the future utopian movement known as the ‘South Joseon Faith (南朝鮮信仰 namjoseon sinang),’ and faith around ‘Maitreya’s Descensionist-Birth (彌勒下生 mireuk hasaeng).’ People aimed to transform their country based on these ideas. Associated folklore tended to come from fengshui (風水) and books on prophecies and divination (圖讖 docham), and both of these drew heavily upon Daoist concepts. On the other hand, Daoist texts began being translated as national projects under King Cheoljong (哲宗), and many more were translated and published later under King Gojong (高宗). The nature of these Daoist texts mostly consisted of either morality books (善書 seonseo) or precious scrolls (寶卷 bogeon). The problem was that these ordinances and the Daoist texts of regents were among the main causes of civil war during the Qing Dynasty. In this regard, the translation of the Daoist texts conducted as a national project provided a theoretical basis for the people wishing to foment civil war or transformation. This raises the question of why King Gojong implemented a Daoist translation project in his nation. In an effort to answer this question, this article summarizes the popular ideas of the late Joseon Dynasty and explains how they were closely related to Daoism. In addition, this article summarizes the facts about how Daoism has emerged from a national crisis but developed a function of protecting the state (鎭護) in Korean history. Further described is the situation under which Daoism was summoned during the Japanese Invasion of Joseon (壬辰倭亂). Analysis is provided to show that King Gojong’s intention was to translate Daoism due to Daoism’s role in protecting the state. In addition, the relationship between current Daoist rites and customs in Korea and King Gojong’s dissemination of Daoist oaths and vouchers is confirmed.

Political Exclusion, Lost Autonomy, and Escalating Conflict over Self-Determination

AbstractMost civil wars are preceded by nonviolent forms of conflict. While it is often assumed that violent and nonviolent conflicts arequalitativelydifferent and have different causes, that assumption is rarely tested empirically. We use a two-step approach to explore whether political exclusion and lost autonomy—two common causes of civil war according to extant literature—are associated with the emergence of nonviolent separatist claims, with the escalation of nonviolent separatist claims to war, or both. Our analysis suggests that different types of grievances matter more at different stages of conflict escalation. We find that political exclusion is a significant correlate of the escalation of nonviolent claims for self-determination to violence, while its association with the emergence of nonviolent separatist claims is weaker. By contrast, lost autonomy is correlated with both the emergence of nonviolent separatist claims and, if autonomy revocations are recent, their escalation to violence. We argue that these results are consistent with both grievance- and opportunity-based theories of conflict.

Investigating the Outcomes of the Military Wing of The Civil Society in Enforcing Democracy or Cessation

In Hobbes’ Leviathan, he portrays man as a rationally angry and dangerous creature capable of hurting another in order to remain alive. He says human interpersonal relations are mostly characterized by brutality in what he called “Man against man” in order words man is another man’s wolf. According to him human interpersonal relations are substantiated by the fear of bad or sudden death and so, every human seeks for ways to either remain alive or to maintain his status quo. Anger, resentments, protests and violence are clearly part of the human life and one of the reasons every human must be careful to gather his human arsenal in order to deter another from killing him. Man cannot in any way deal with the other without these ingredients ever present in interpersonal human relations. Though pejorative with many negative defects as Hobbes sees it, they have also brought some common good to societies and countries whose governments are experts in crisis management. However, the same is not the case for countries with haughty governments ruled by mostly dictatorships, which underrate their citizens and use the military to deter them from fighting for their rights. This article shall seek to firstly understand the conceptual background of civil society by examining different definitions of what it means. Secondly, it shall look at two fundamental factors that make civil societies very important and powerful for state development as well as destruction, however, will discuss them separately as one will be deeply discussed in the later parts of the study. Thirdly, it shall shallowly review the relationship between the civil society and democracy in Nigeria which will serve as a preview to understand the foreseen projection that the civil society and democracy in tandem engenders development. Secondly, at the core lies the tireless and selfless service of a powerful civil society vis-à-vis to maintain social order, unity, and social cohesion as well as keep the spirit of nationalism aflame. Lastly, this article shall concentrate on the most vital part of the study which is the military wing of civil societies. This study will show that when the civil society organization is pushed to its limits, it has the power to bring no small trouble to their host governments and domestic affairs sometimes crossing international boundaries and leading to serious international security issues and humanitarian crises. To fully understand this part, the study shall stroll through political exclusion, isolation, opportunity, greed and violence as possible incentives to arouse the devastating military wing of the civil society. Furthermore, the most comprehensive and elaborate study to use to explain this will be the analysis of Collier and Hoeffler’s account of civil war studies but this will be mentioned in passing. To avoid auto repetition, an article earlier published by me titled “Investigating the causes of civil wars in Sub-Saharan Africa, Case study: South Sudan and the Central African Republic” shall be cited. More so, this study shall look at carefully localized independent and dependent variables which shall be used in the comparative method to review the verifiable effects of the military wing of the civil society in Cameroon and Burkina Faso.
 “When the enabling factor fails to a haughty government, then civilian enacted military action is the only solution. However, the effects of this civilian enacted military action differs from place to place and there is no assurance of how positively democratic or devastating they could be”
 The independent variables shall be political isolation, political exclusion and polarization. And the dependent variable shall be the democracy and secession.

What’s going on next door? Irregular leader change in neighboring countries, uncertainty, and civil war

Uncertainty about capabilities or resolve is a prominent explanation for war between states. However, we know comparatively little about uncertainty as a cause of armed conflict between domestic actors. This article proposes that irregular leader change in a neighboring country generates uncertainty about third-party resolve and thus increases the likelihood of intrastate armed conflict. I argue that domestic actors take potential third parties’ capabilities and resolve into account when bargaining, that neighboring countries are important potential third parties, and that irregular leader change among these potential third parties results in uncertainty because there is an increased risk of foreign policy change combined with limited access to information. With uncertain estimates of third-party resolve, the risk of bargaining failure and armed conflict increases. Global spatial analyses spanning 1946–2014 corroborate the argument. As expected, I find that irregular leader change in one or more neighboring countries increases the probability of intrastate armed conflict onset. The results are robust across three different distance thresholds for neighboring countries, using time and country fixed effects and several alternative model specifications. Overall, this article advances our knowledge about uncertainty as a cause of civil war and sheds new light on the adverse consequences of irregular leader change.

Political Exclusion, Lost Autonomy, and Escalating Conflict over Self-Determination

Most civil wars are preceded by nonviolent forms of conflict. While it is often assumed that violent and nonviolent conflicts are qualitatively different and have different causes, that assumption is rarely tested empirically. This paper uses a two-step approach to explore whether political exclusion and lost autonomy---two common causes of civil war according to extant literature---are associated with the emergence of nonviolent separatist claims, with the escalation of nonviolent separatist claims to war, or both. Our analysis suggests that different types of grievances matter more at different stages of conflict escalation. We find that political exclusion is a significant correlate of the escalation of nonviolent claims for self-determination to violence, while its association with the emergence of nonviolent separatist claims is weaker. By contrast, lost autonomy is correlated with both the emergence of nonviolent separatist claims and (if autonomy revocations are recent) their escalation to violence. We argue that these results are consistent with both grievance- and opportunity-based theories of conflict.

Poor Governance and Civil War in Syria

Civil war is a complex event affected by numerous factors. Recent research is intended to concentrate on poor governance as a cause of civil war. Despite the various way in which civil war can be addressed, the article shows that governance provide a strong framework to study civil war. Civil war in Syria which was started in 2011 provide an important and rich area of investigation into the study of civil war. The findings support the theoretical argument that poor governance paved the way to civil war in Syria. Governance indicators would be more meaningful when are investigated considering the factors like ethic and religious diversity, and the nature of regional and international systems.

Rural Grievances, Landholding Inequality, and Civil Conflict

Prominent theories stress the role of economic grievances in promoting political instability and conflict. They often point to inequality in the ownership of land as a primary source of such grievances. However, cross-national empirical studies fail to confirm a link between unequal distributions of land and civil war. These findings, I contend, stem from problems in theorizing and measuring rural inequality. This article distinguishes between the effects of total landholding inequality and the concentration of land ownership on conflict. Total landholding inequality, which includes landlessness, captures economic grievances in the countryside and is positively associated with conflict. Gini coefficients of landholding concentration capture both grievances and landowners’ capacity to organize as rebels and a repressive rural elite. The relationship between landholding Ginis and conflict is shaped like an inverted “U”: inequality correlates with an increasing likelihood of conflict, but as the concentration of landholdings reaches very high levels, the likelihood of conflict decreases with the formation of a small repressive class of landowners. Results of cross-national regressions—using new data on total landholding inequality and the concentration of landholdings—confirm these predictions. My findings provide evidence that landholding inequality is an important underlying cause of civil war.

Mixing Methods: A Bayesian Approach

We develop an approach to multimethod research that generates joint learning from quantitative and qualitative evidence. The framework—Bayesian integration of quantitative and qualitative data (BIQQ)—allows researchers to draw causal inferences from combinations of correlational (cross-case) and process-level (within-case) observations, given prior beliefs about causal effects, assignment propensities, and the informativeness of different kinds of causal-process evidence. In addition to posterior estimates of causal effects, the framework yields updating on the analytical assumptions underlying correlational analysis and process tracing. We illustrate the BIQQ approach with two applications to substantive issues that have received significant quantitative and qualitative treatment in political science: the origins of electoral systems and the causes of civil war. Finally, we demonstrate how the framework can yield guidance on multimethod research design, presenting results on the optimal combinations of qualitative and quantitative data collection under different research conditions.

Why peace fails: The causes and prevention of civil war recurrence, by Charles T Call

Charles T Call Why peace fails: The causes and prevention of civil war recurrence Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2012. 328 pp., $34.26 (paper) ISBN: 978-1-5890-1894-5Interstate war has been steadily declining over past few decades, while intrastate war has been on rise. Civil wars are now most common form of human armed conflict and account for an appalling number of deaths, injuries and forced displacements, especially in developing world. Charles T. Call aims to answer question of why, after a civil war has shown every sign of ending, some reignite while others stay stagnant. In order to address this puzzle, Call uses regression analysis techniques on a newly updated data set of civil wars, constructing a new variable based on wars that recur after at least 1 year of widespread peace. Along with his quantitative analysis, Call also presents an in-depth case study of civil war in Liberia, as well as 14 mini case studies of other countries in his data set that have experienced civil war recurrence. Moreover, he examines cases in which war did not recur to uncover decisive factors that might explain why peace endures in certain contexts.Call's central argument is based on notion of exclusion. Political exclusion denotes the perceived or actual deprivation of an expected opportunity for former warring parties, or social groups associated with them, to participate in state administration, through either appointed posts or elected office (4). Call explains that this factor plays a critical role in determining whether or not peace will be consolidated after civil war; he goes so far as to conclude that it acts as a trigger for war recurrence. On other hand, political inclusion, in form of power-sharing agreements, can act as a catalyst to bolster peace. Call presents a thorough and well-thought-out argument and uses a tried and true mixed-methods research strategy: quantitative statistical analysis buttressed and nuanced by contextually rich case studies. As both an academic and practitioner, Call is well positioned to contribute to debate on this important topic.While there has been a great deal of scholarship addressing causes of civil war, less attention has been focused on civil war recurrence. Previous research on recurrence has focused on structural factors rather than role of leadership and weight of key decisions leading to civil war recurrence. With this contribution to our understanding of civil war recurrence, Call has bridged that gap, as his argument addresses elite behaviour. He explains how leaders choose to include former enemies in key administrative and executive positions or merely pay lip service to idea while blocking any real form of power-sharing. Especially noteworthy is in-depth case study of Liberia, which illustrates mechanisms and causal relationships that are at play after a civil war comes to an end. The mini-case studies further nuance his argument, demonstrating that characteristics of civil war recurrence vary depending on whether conflict is a separatist war or not. Call also addresses several cases that defy his argument, and is careful throughout book not to overstate importance of a single variable.Perhaps Call is too modest in this respect. As I read through four case studies that he characterizes as defying argument I could not help but feel that author was not giving his own argument enough credit. …

ECONOMIC CONDITIONS OF THE STATES BEFORE AND AFTER THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

ABSTRACTEven though, American Civil War is considered as a seminal event in history of United States, there are not many empirical studies examining economic conditions of Union and Confederate states. Even though, economic conflict is not considered to be a cause of Civil War, economic conditions after war were vastly different in Union and Confederate states. The purpose of this study is to analyze economic outcomes of individuals in Confederate states and Union states before and after American Civil War using census data for 1860 and 1880. Our goal is to analyze improvements in occupation income scores. Since slaves were freed, we also examine whether there was a reduction in farm households.Keywords: The American Civil War, Census, Confederate States, Occupational Income Score1. INTRODUCTIONThe American Civil War is an event of significant economic impact in American history. The war resulted in abolition of slavery in Southern states and preservation of Union. The issues relating to slavery, trade and tariffs and state's rights were causing divisions between Northern and Southern states before Civil War. The economic divisions with Northern states with growing manufacturing sector and small farms using free labor and Southern states with large farms using slave labor aggravated situation. When Northern states wanted to ban slavery in Western Territories that would become new states, Southern states feared that such a move would eventually result in abolition of slavery and loss of their valuable assets in form of slaves. The American Civil War began with secession of Southern states, South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee and North Carolina, in sequential order, from Union in 1860-61. The war ended in 1865 with death of more than 750,000 people (Hacker, 2011) and destruction of South's infrastructure. Even though there is a vast literature on economic impact of civil war, most studies focus at macroeconomic level. The purpose of this study is to examine impact at individual level using census data.2. LITERATURE REVIEWThe American Civil War has been examined in detail. Therefore, we will only discuss literature relevant to this study. According to Beard and Beard (1927), defeat of agricultural South resulted in rise of Hacker (1940) also comes to same conclusion. However, his thesis is that victory of Northern states provided industrialist-capitalist class clout to pass legislation that resulted in the triumph of American capitalism. (Goldin and Lewis, 1975). In short, both Charles and Mary Beard and Hacker conclude that even though Civil War caused extensive damages, it also generated net benefits because of subsequent high growth. However, Cochran (1961), Salsbury (1967; Engerman, 1966) challenge these views. Cochran, for example, finds that growth in value added from 1839 to 1859 are similar to those from 1869 to 1889. Engerman (1966) finds that commodity output growth between 1870 and 1900 was similar to that between 1840 and 1860. Engerman (1966) also finds no basis for claim that US economic activity took off after war based on Gallman (1966) GNP estimates. Therefore, we may conclude that Civil War was not a defining moment as Beards and Hacker have claimed.Even though, census data has been an extensive source for micro-level analysis, there are not many studies that analyze Civil War using census data. Hacker (2011) uses it to estimate number of Civil War dead. Jaworski (2009) uses linked sample of census data for 1850 and 1870 to examine wealth buildup and concludes that wealth accumulation was significant in Southern states in 1850's and sluggish in 1860's. …

Understanding nonviolent resistance

The events of the Arab Spring of 2011 have made clear the importance and potential efficacy of nonviolent resistance, as well as the field’s inability to explain the onset and outcome of major nonviolent uprisings. Until recently, conflict scholars have largely ignored nonviolent resistance. This issue features new theoretical and empirical explorations of the causes and consequences of nonviolent resistance, stressing the role that unarmed, organized civilians can play in shaping the course of conflicts. Contributors demonstrate the importance of treating nonviolent and violent strategies, as well as conventional politics strategies, as alternative choices for engaging the state, show how gender ideology can influence which opposition groups use nonviolent resistance, and suggest that the causes of civil war and nonviolent resistance often differ. Other pieces highlight the role of public attitudes regarding whether nonviolent resistance and violence are employed, how experience with activism and repression by the state can shape activists’ perceptions of justice, and how the perceptions of resistance leaders can influence strategic choices. Moreover, several articles examine the key role that security force defections can play in the success of nonviolent resistance, how micro-level nonviolent tactics can improve security in civil war, and how nonviolent campaigns can influence the stability of autocratic states. These contributions suggest that rigorous empirical study of civilian-based contentious politics (rather than only violent contention by armed non-state actors) must be incorporated into the conflict literature. Improved theory and data on the subject will help researchers and policymakers to shape strategies to support these movements when appropriate, and to manage changes in the international system that result from the success of nonviolent uprisings.

Why do poor countries suffer costly conflict? Unpacking per capita income and the onset of civil war

Empirical studies on the causes of civil war robustly show that poor countries are more likely to suffer civil war than rich ones. However, the interpretations of this finding differ. The literature proposes three different causal mechanisms: (1) poverty leads to grievances; (2) income proxies the opportunity-cost of rebelling; and (3) income proxies state capacity. Using factor analysis, logistic modeling and multiple imputation, we test which of the three possible explanations can best explain the link between poverty and conflict. We find per capita income to belong to a wealth/poverty dimension, and to have little in common with “pure” measures of grievance and state capacity. Thus our findings support the opportunity-cost argument. The wealth dimension is also shown to be the most important underlying cause of civil war.

After ethnic civil war

While the study of the causes of civil war is a well-established subdiscipline in international relations, the effects of civil war on society remain less understood. Yet, such effects could have crucial implications for long-term stability and democracy in a country after the reaching of a peace agreement. This article contributes to the understanding of the effects of warfare on interethnic relations, notably attitudes of ethno-nationalism. Two hypotheses are tested: first, that the prevalence of ethno-nationalism is higher after than before the war, and second, that individuals who have been directly affected by the war are more nationalist than others. The variation in ethno-nationalism is examined over time, between countries, and between ethnic groups. Three countries that did not experience conflict on their own territory serve as a control group. The effect of individual war exposure is also tested in the analysis. Sources include survey data from the former Yugoslavia in 1989, shortly before the outbreak of war in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and in 2003, some years after the violence in the region ended. Contrary to common beliefs, the study shows that ethno-nationalism does not necessarily increase with ethnic civil war. The individual war experiences are less important than expected.

Guest Editorial: The Nexus of Violence, Violence Research, and Development. Introduction to the Focus Section

This focus section of the International Journal of Conflict and Violence is dedicated to violence and violence research in the Global South. It examines the causes, forms, perpetrators, processes, and outcomes of violence. While the contributions go into detail on what is commonly understood as politically motivated violence, they also examine societal, criminal, urban, and gendered violence, as well as the involvement of youth. Four articles explore the significance of violence in specific regions: Africa south of the Sahara, West Asia and North Africa, East Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean. The authors describe and assess the state of research within and about the different countries. Two further articles review the body of research on the causes of civil war, which has been the dominant issue in much violence-related research on the global South since the end of the Cold War.

Why do civil wars occur? Another look at the theoretical dichotomy of opportunity versus grievance

AbstractThe purpose of this article is to review major theoretical arguments with regard to the causes of civil war and identify problems associated with the conceptual juxtaposition of opportunity versus grievance that predominates in the field. While they are critical aspects of conflict processes, perception of opportunity and grievance as two mutually competing explanations or separate categories ultimately can limit, rather than facilitate, our understanding of civil conflicts. For example, we show that not all motives can be designated easily as deriving from one or the other. In addition, the existing dichotomous framework masks other important questions about the way that collective action is achieved in some circumstances and not others or the way that some factors seem to generate grievances at one stage, perhaps, but then an opportunity at another orvice versa. Thus the priority should be to develop an integrated, comprehensive approach that can account for fundamental aspects of complex conflict processes. We conclude by providing suggestions for future research on civil conflict.