The Political Economy of Violent Conflict Within States

Abstract

The political economy of violent conflict is a body of literature that investigates how economic issues and interests shape the dynamics associated to violent conflict after the Cold War. The literature covers an area of research focusing on civil wars—the predominant type of conflict in the 1990s and early 2000s—and an area of research focusing on other types of violent conflict within states, such as permanent emergencies, criminal violence, and political violence associated to turbulent transitions. The first area involves four themes that have come to characterize discussions on the political economy of civil wars, including research on the role of greed and grievance in conflict onset, on economic interests in civil wars, on the nature of conflict economies, and on conflict financing. The second area responds to the evolution of violent conflict beyond the categories of “interstate” or “civil” war and shows how political economy research adapted to new types of violent conflict within states as it moved beyond the “post-Cold War” era. Overall, the literature on the political economy of violence conflict emphasizes the role of informal systems behind power, profits and violence, and the economic interests and functions of violence underlying to violent conflict. It has also become a conceptual laboratory for scholars who after years of field research tried to make sense of the realities of authoritarian, violent or war-affected countries. By extending the boundaries of the literature beyond the study of civil wars after the Cold War, political economy research can serve as an important analytical lens to better understand the constantly evolving nature of violent conflict and to inform sober judgment on the possible policy responses to them.

Climate change, migration and farmer–herder conflict in Ghana

“…Their interests are not directly linked to the environment but profit. Together, the political ecology theory offers an appealing explanation for these outcomes that the profit-making nature of conflicts flows through the discourses of scarcity and emboldens the propensity of individuals and groups to perpetrate cycles of violence (Wennmann, 2019). These together with institutional weakness tame unscrupulous behaviors that threaten the search for peace in the area as stipulated in the political ecology thought.…”

“…These actors contribute to weakening political institutions, creating criminal networks from grassroots to international levels through which natural resources could be looted and possessed or traded locally or internationally. This profit-making nature of the conflicts then flows through the discourses of scarcity and emboldens the propensity of individuals and groups to perpetrate cycles of violence (Hoeffler, 2011;Wennmann, 2019). Consequently, the farmer-herder conflicts cannot be purely categorized as environmental, or climate change induced since they happen within inextricable social, economic, ecological, and political contexts (Dietz & Engels, 2010).…”

Economics of War and a Future Perspective on the Possible Effects of the Russia-Ukrainian War on the European Economy

“…Savaş ekonomisi kavramı ise geleneksel olarak, İkinci Dünya Savaşı'ndaki ülkelerin ekonomileri gibi, "savaş için üretime ayrılmış, merkezi olarak planlanmış bir ekonomi" (de Waal, 2016) olarak tanımlanmaktadır. Bununla birlikte bu terim günümüzde hem devlet hem de devlet dışı aktörlerin, kaynak arayışları ve gelişen ekonomik faaliyetleri dahil olmak üzere, devlet içi çatışmaların ve "yeni savaşların" ekonomik temelini tanımlamak için daha yaygın olarak kullanılmaktadır (Wennmann, 2019).…”

The Impact of Extreme International Political Conflicts on the Household Consumption Based on Big Data Analysis

“…The new international political economy relationship with oil over past decades due to different social background [2]. Shape of violent conflict under economy and interest purpose from 1990-2000 [3]. Prediction on future global conflict to help people prepare in advance to prevent the dramatic impact on citizens' normal life [4].…”