Entrepreneurial Activity and Civil War in Colombia: Exploring the Mutual Determinants between Armed Conflict and the Private Sector

TAs elsewhere, the Colombian private sector has been accused of promoting or profiting from violence in the country. However, the private sector’s role in the armed conflict and the impact of conflict on entrepreneurial activity vary, as reflected by differences in political activism, in peacebuilding strategies and in costs endured according to company size, sector, and region of operations. At the same time, accounts of regional variation in conflict intensity suggest that an understanding of the Colombian confrontation requires a subnational approach. This paper explores whether and how differences in regional armed armed conflict can be attributed to differences in entrepreneurial make-up and activity associated with five natural resources, produced in different regions (oil, coffee, bananas, emeralds, and flowers). This paper suggests that company-specific traits, institutions of production, and the nature of international markets have a significant impact on the link between entrepreneurial activity and armed conflict in Colombian regions.Colombia, armed conflict, entrepreneurship, private sector, natural resources, multinational companies

Conflict Prevention, Management, and Resolution: Africa — Regional Strategies for the Prevention of Displacement and Protection of Displaced Persons: The Cases of the OAU, ECOWAS, SADC, and IGAD

This Article seeks to examine the preparedness of certain African regional actors to protect displaced persons in times of armed conflict, and to prescribe formulas to strengthen the capabilities of such actors. The objective is to assess the conflict maintenance capacities of African regional actors and their partners to provide physical and legal protection to displaced persons in times of armed conflict, and likewise to recommend strategies to increase protection

Poverty and Violent Conflict: A Micro Level Perspective on the Causes and Duration of Warfare

This paper argues that endogenous mechanisms linking processes of violent conflict and household poverty provide valuable micro foundations to the ongoing debate on the causes and duration of armed conflicts. Household poverty affects the onset, sustainability and duration of violent conflict due to the direct and indirect effects of violence on the economic behaviour and decisions of households in conflict areas. These effects lead to the emergence of symbiotic relationships between armed groups and households living in areas they control that may sustain the conflict for a long time. The strength of this relationship is a function of two interdependent variables, namely household vulnerability to poverty and household vulnerability to violence.Household poverty, household welfare, causes of armed conflict, duration of conflict, micro-foundations of conflict

A global battlefield?: Drones and the geographical scope of armed conflict

The ever-increasing use of drones in the pursuit of the 'war on terror' has given rise to concerns over the emergence of a global battlefield whereby the entire planet is subject to the application of the laws of armed conflict. These concerns stem from drone strikes frequently occurring outside the 'active battlefields' of Afghanistan and into the border regions of Pakistan and expanding further afield into Yemen and Somalia. In response to emerging practice, a significant body of academic literature has emerged on the legal classification of transnational armed violence. Less attention however, has been given to the geographical scope of the concept of armed conflict itself. This article provides a detailed analysis of the geographical scope of non-international armed conflict under international humanitarian law, and in the context of drone strikes. In particular, it focuses upon the legal implications of the geographical disjunction between the location of drone strikes and primary battlefields from the point-of-view of the application of international humanitarian law

The role of the Russian Federation in the Pridnestrovian conflict: an international humanitarian law perspective

Pridnestrovie, a de facto state within the territory of the Republic of Moldova, declared itself independent in September 1990, a declaration that was followed by an armed conflict between Moldova and Pridnestrovie in 1992. To date no settlement has been achieved between the conflicting parties. The situation is complicated by the fact that the Soviet Union and subsequently the Russian Federation has been involved in the conflict in various ways. This article seeks to analyse the conflict from an international humanitarian law perspective. The involvement of the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation in the conflict is of great significance because third-party involvement, depending on the level of involvement, has the potential to change the categorisation of a conflict from a non-international armed conflict to an international armed conflict. This in turn impacts on the number and nature of international humanitarian law provisions applicable to the conflict situation. As international humanitarian law provides protection to those fighting in and those caught up in a conflict, it is important to investigate which international humanitarian law provisions could be applicable. The article offers an assessment of the categorisation of the Pridnestrovian conflict, focusing on the role of the Soviet Union and Russian Federation, and the consequent implications for the application of international humanitarian law

Extracting the Root to Reap the Fruit: Searching for a Possible End to Armed Conflict

Putting an end to ideologically motivated armed conflicts in the Philippines does not only entail going to the negotiating table for peace talks but also and more importantly, identifying the possible factors/determinants of the incidence of conflict and working on the appropriate measures to address them. This Notes therefore comes up with a model that tests which factors are able to explain the incidence of armed encounters/conflicts in the Philippines for the period 1991 to 2004.armed conflict, incidence of conflict, relative deprivation

Do Giant Oilfield Discoveries Fuel Internal Armed Conflicts?

We use new data to examine the effects of giant oilfield discoveries around the world since 1946. On average, these discoveries increase per capita oil production and oil exports by up to 50 percent. But these giant oilfield discoveries also have a dark side: they increase the incidence of internal armed conflict by about 5-8 percentage points. This increased incidence of conflict due to giant oilfield discoveries is especially high for countries that had already experienced armed conflicts or coups in the decade prior to discovery.Natural resources, resource curse, petroleum, armed conflict, civil war

The agrarian question and violence in Colombia: conflict and development

This article examines connections between Colombia’s internal armed conflict and agrarian questions. It pays attention to the country’s specific historical trajectory of agrarian change, the violent expression of social tensions that this elicited, and the particular ways in which these dynamics were influenced by a changing global context.This analysis of the intimate ties between violent conflict and agrarian questions in Colombia, both in terms of their historical development and their contemporary manifestations, challenges popular notions of the relationship between armed conflict and development. In particular, the article contributes to a critique of the conventional version of the conflict–development nexus by illustrating ways in which the experience of capitalist development in Colombia has been violent and produced poverty

A geography of illicit crops (coca leaf) and armed conflict in Colombia

Colombia is currently the world’s largest producer of coca leaf and the principal producer of opium poppies in the Americas; the plants are the basic raw materials used to produce cocaine and heroin. This document analyses the current relationship between these crops and illegal armed groups in Colombia, using the hypothesis that the geographical intensification of the conflict is the principal cause of expanding illicit crop production. This relationship was analysed using a theoretical model, in which an interaction between illegal armed activity and strategic territorial control lead to cocaine production. Spatial analysis techniques were then applied, especially spatial association indicators; and a clear spatial dynamic was observed, related to the two aspects mentioned above. Non-parametric exercises were also carried out using matching estimators, to determine the effect illegal armed groups have on coca crops, and also to analyse the efficiency of aerial eradication policies. The results suggest that a large percentage of coca production in Colombia is due to the effects of illegal armed activity. We therefore conclude that the expansion of illegal crop growing is a consequence of the expanding conflict. In contrast, coca crops can only be used to explain a small part of the armed conflict in Colombia. In addition, we found that crop eradication via aerial spraying has not been an efficient tool in the fight against coca production in the country