SUMMARY CONFLICT STUDIES
CONTENT
table of content
content.......................................................................................................... 1
Chapter 1: Introduction & definition of the field of study..................................5
Conflict studies as a field of research.............................................................................5
A discipline or a field?.................................................................................................6
origins............................................................................................................................. 6
the historical origins of Conflict Studies:.....................................................................6
World Wars as triggers for Conflict Studies.................................................................7
First Generation of Conflict Studies.............................................................................8
Cold War Influence on Conflict Studies........................................................................8
Pioneers of Conflict Studies.........................................................................................9
Further Development of Conflict Studies During the Cold War..................................10
Key points of Research in Conflict Studies.................................................................10
Widening the Scope of Conflict Studies.....................................................................11
Post-Cold War Developments in Conflict Studies.......................................................11
Complex Political Emergencies Post-Cold War...........................................................12
Concept of New Wars................................................................................................ 12
Expansion of Conflict Studies....................................................................................13
Five Current Debates in Conflict Studies...................................................................13
Defining the field.......................................................................................................... 14
Components of Conflict............................................................................................. 14
Understanding Violence in Conflict Studies...............................................................14
Civil war.................................................................................................................... 15
Defining peace.......................................................................................................... 15
Chapter 2: Violence and structure.................................................................15
introduction.................................................................................................................. 15
Objectives for Understanding Violent Conflict...........................................................16
Theoretical Foundations................................................................................................ 16
Structure vs agency.................................................................................................. 16
Durkheimian view (agency).......................................................................................16
Structuralism............................................................................................................. 16
Types of violence.......................................................................................................... 17
Conflict Studies Evolution.............................................................................................18
The structuralist turn and conflict studies.................................................................18
State-making paradox............................................................................................... 18
modern State Challenges.............................................................................................. 19
War Making as State Making.....................................................................................19
Post-Colonial Order.................................................................................................... 19
State Failure.............................................................................................................. 20
Fragility and Transfer of Sovereignty........................................................................20
Global-Local connection................................................................................................21
Connecting Global Structures to Local Conflict..........................................................21
Old vs New Wars and the Role of Identity.................................................................22
1
, Network wars................................................................................................................ 25
War Economies.......................................................................................................... 25
Warlords.................................................................................................................... 26
political economy perspective...................................................................................26
Critiques....................................................................................................................... 27
New forms of governance............................................................................................. 27
GOVERNANCE MARKERS/indicators...........................................................................27
no war no peace........................................................................................................ 28
Rebel governance in civil wars......................................................................................28
Stateness.................................................................................................................. 29
Taxation.................................................................................................................... 29
Protection.................................................................................................................. 30
Global views and international responses.....................................................................30
New System of Global Governance...............................................................................31
‘Us’ and ‘Them’ Dichotomies........................................................................................31
New Era of Interventionism...........................................................................................32
conclusions................................................................................................................... 33
Chapter 3: The politics of identity (online).....................................................33
Key questions............................................................................................................... 34
What is identity?........................................................................................................ 34
Three Perspectives on Identity..................................................................................36
Identity as a Capital.................................................................................................. 37
The Narrative of Identity........................................................................................... 37
"Pillars of the Narrative"............................................................................................ 38
Identity and Conflict.................................................................................................. 38
Function of identity based violenc.............................................................................39
Meaning of identity – culturalism...............................................................................40
Conclusion.................................................................................................................... 41
Chapter 4: Rational Choice models & the theory of greed?.............................42
Content (ter info).......................................................................................................... 42
Framing involves claiming (in the Context of Violent Conflict)......................................42
Greed or grievance....................................................................................................... 43
Economic Incentives and Drivers of Conflict..............................................................43
The New Focus on Resources in Conflict Dynamics...................................................44
Greed Theory and Policy Response...........................................................................44
Rational choice models.................................................................................................45
Underlying Assumptions in Rational Choice Models...................................................46
Realist school of international relations.....................................................................47
Collier's Greed Theory............................................................................................... 47
Parameters of Greed................................................................................................. 48
Parameters of Grievance........................................................................................... 49
Collier's Conclusion on Greed versus Grievance........................................................49
Violent Conflict as a Market.......................................................................................50
The Collective Action Problem in Rebel Movements..................................................51
Collier’s response of the Collective Action Problem in Rebellions..............................51
SO, what convinces individuals to join then?.............................................................52
Critiques of Rational Choice Models in Conflict Analysis...............................................53
The Value of Economic Approaches...........................................................................54
Greed as a Policy Framework in Conflict Analysis......................................................55
Consequences of Greed Theory in Conflict Analysis..................................................55
2
, Shift in view on violent actors...................................................................................56
Epistemic violence (spivak).......................................................................................56
Case 1: Albania............................................................................................................. 57
Civil war.................................................................................................................... 57
Two views.................................................................................................................. 58
Case 2: DRC.................................................................................................................. 58
To conclude............................................................................................................... 59
Circular Return.......................................................................................................... 60
concluding.................................................................................................................... 61
Chapter 5: Perspectives on violence..............................................................62
How to frame violence?................................................................................................ 62
The Individual or the structure?....................................................................................63
Violence as product or process?...................................................................................64
The sartre – camus debate...........................................................................................64
intro: Two Views on Revolutionary Violence: Camus and Sartre................................64
Camus on Revolutionary Violence and Individual Humanity.....................................65
Sartre on Violence as Revolutionary Justice..............................................................65
Hannah Arendt on Violence Versus Power.................................................................66
Frantz Fanon on Violence and Liberation......................................................................67
Frantz Fanon on the Utility of Violence in Liberation.................................................67
Frantz Fanon on Decolonization and the Role of Violence.........................................68
Gurr on Relative Deprivation and Civil Strife.................................................................68
Types of Deprivation and Their Impact on Social Behavior........................................69
Butler’s vieuw on Non-Violence and Social Critique...................................................70
The Legitimization of Violence: A Four-Stage Model by Schröder and Schmidt.............71
Violent Imaginaries: The Cultural and Performative Dimensions of Violence.............71
Carolyn Nordstrom on the Nature of Violence...............................................................72
The Psychological Impact of Violence: The Fear of Death..........................................72
The effects of Violence on Society.............................................................................73
Violence and the Existential/observational................................................................73
War and Violence: A Socio-Analytical Perspective by Lubkemann................................73
War as a Complex Social Condition: Beyond Violence (Lubkemann).........................74
Conclusion.................................................................................................................... 74
chatpter 6: vigilantes and the war on terror..................................................75
Part 1: « The war on terror » in Sahel...........................................................................75
New Wars Debate and History of the "War on Terror":..............................................75
A different approach : a definition.............................................................................75
A bit of context.......................................................................................................... 76
Conclusion part 1...................................................................................................... 78
Part 2: A local comparative case – Vigilantism in Sahel................................................79
Introduction............................................................................................................... 79
Studiying violence: the example of vigilantism.........................................................79
Counter-terrorism in Nigeria......................................................................................81
Chapter 7: Jihadi actors in conflict.................................................................87
content......................................................................................................................... 87
Part 1: “Global” Jihad a historical perspective...............................................................87
definition................................................................................................................... 87
Difficult to study........................................................................................................ 88
3
, On the origins of jihad............................................................................................... 89
Main issues in the study of jihad...............................................................................92
part 2: case study: Jihad in the Sahel............................................................................93
Situation in the sahel................................................................................................. 93
Commonly applied perspective.................................................................................94
My methode.............................................................................................................. 97
My theories................................................................................................................ 98
Chapter 8: Genocide.....................................................................................98
Content......................................................................................................................... 98
‘A crime that has no name’........................................................................................... 99
Genocide: An Ancient Crime in Modern Discourse.....................................................99
Historical Instances of Genocide................................................................................99
Genocides in the 20th and early 21st century – cited examples.............................100
Genocide and imperialism.......................................................................................... 100
questionable Cases in Genocide Studies.................................................................102
vague concept, no clear guidelines in use of it...........................................................103
Defining Genocide: Harder vs. Softer Approaches...................................................104
Key Ingredients of Definitions of Genocide (Jones...................................................104
Genocide: Etymology and Historical Context..............................................................105
Lemkin’s Definition of Genocide..............................................................................105
UN Genocide Convention (1948).................................................................................106
limits of UN definition.............................................................................................. 106
Crimes Against Humanity: An Overview and Comparison with Genocide....................107
The Evolution of Genocide Studies..............................................................................108
Strategic or Rationalist Approach to Genocide............................................................108
Three Causal Mechanisms Between War and Genocide (Straus)................................109
Ideological paradigm..................................................................................................110
Complementarity between paradigms (Straus)..........................................................110
Dehumanization and ‘othering’...................................................................................111
Genocide as political violence.....................................................................................111
Case study: The rwandan genocide(nog samenvatten)..............................................112
Structural roots of violence.....................................................................................112
Dehumanization...................................................................................................... 113
100 Days of Killing in Rwanda (1994)......................................................................113
the international response to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda...................................115
the post-genocide situation in Rwanda,...................................................................115
Genocide in gaza........................................................................................................ 116
Conclusion.................................................................................................................. 117
chapter 9: International intrvention and Peace building...............................118
Content....................................................................................................................... 118
The Politics of Intervention.........................................................................................118
The United Nations and peace-keeping......................................................................118
Agenda for peace........................................................................................................ 119
The Ideological Framework: Promoting Liberal Peace.................................................120
From Fragility to Resilience......................................................................................... 121
4
CONTENT
table of content
content.......................................................................................................... 1
Chapter 1: Introduction & definition of the field of study..................................5
Conflict studies as a field of research.............................................................................5
A discipline or a field?.................................................................................................6
origins............................................................................................................................. 6
the historical origins of Conflict Studies:.....................................................................6
World Wars as triggers for Conflict Studies.................................................................7
First Generation of Conflict Studies.............................................................................8
Cold War Influence on Conflict Studies........................................................................8
Pioneers of Conflict Studies.........................................................................................9
Further Development of Conflict Studies During the Cold War..................................10
Key points of Research in Conflict Studies.................................................................10
Widening the Scope of Conflict Studies.....................................................................11
Post-Cold War Developments in Conflict Studies.......................................................11
Complex Political Emergencies Post-Cold War...........................................................12
Concept of New Wars................................................................................................ 12
Expansion of Conflict Studies....................................................................................13
Five Current Debates in Conflict Studies...................................................................13
Defining the field.......................................................................................................... 14
Components of Conflict............................................................................................. 14
Understanding Violence in Conflict Studies...............................................................14
Civil war.................................................................................................................... 15
Defining peace.......................................................................................................... 15
Chapter 2: Violence and structure.................................................................15
introduction.................................................................................................................. 15
Objectives for Understanding Violent Conflict...........................................................16
Theoretical Foundations................................................................................................ 16
Structure vs agency.................................................................................................. 16
Durkheimian view (agency).......................................................................................16
Structuralism............................................................................................................. 16
Types of violence.......................................................................................................... 17
Conflict Studies Evolution.............................................................................................18
The structuralist turn and conflict studies.................................................................18
State-making paradox............................................................................................... 18
modern State Challenges.............................................................................................. 19
War Making as State Making.....................................................................................19
Post-Colonial Order.................................................................................................... 19
State Failure.............................................................................................................. 20
Fragility and Transfer of Sovereignty........................................................................20
Global-Local connection................................................................................................21
Connecting Global Structures to Local Conflict..........................................................21
Old vs New Wars and the Role of Identity.................................................................22
1
, Network wars................................................................................................................ 25
War Economies.......................................................................................................... 25
Warlords.................................................................................................................... 26
political economy perspective...................................................................................26
Critiques....................................................................................................................... 27
New forms of governance............................................................................................. 27
GOVERNANCE MARKERS/indicators...........................................................................27
no war no peace........................................................................................................ 28
Rebel governance in civil wars......................................................................................28
Stateness.................................................................................................................. 29
Taxation.................................................................................................................... 29
Protection.................................................................................................................. 30
Global views and international responses.....................................................................30
New System of Global Governance...............................................................................31
‘Us’ and ‘Them’ Dichotomies........................................................................................31
New Era of Interventionism...........................................................................................32
conclusions................................................................................................................... 33
Chapter 3: The politics of identity (online).....................................................33
Key questions............................................................................................................... 34
What is identity?........................................................................................................ 34
Three Perspectives on Identity..................................................................................36
Identity as a Capital.................................................................................................. 37
The Narrative of Identity........................................................................................... 37
"Pillars of the Narrative"............................................................................................ 38
Identity and Conflict.................................................................................................. 38
Function of identity based violenc.............................................................................39
Meaning of identity – culturalism...............................................................................40
Conclusion.................................................................................................................... 41
Chapter 4: Rational Choice models & the theory of greed?.............................42
Content (ter info).......................................................................................................... 42
Framing involves claiming (in the Context of Violent Conflict)......................................42
Greed or grievance....................................................................................................... 43
Economic Incentives and Drivers of Conflict..............................................................43
The New Focus on Resources in Conflict Dynamics...................................................44
Greed Theory and Policy Response...........................................................................44
Rational choice models.................................................................................................45
Underlying Assumptions in Rational Choice Models...................................................46
Realist school of international relations.....................................................................47
Collier's Greed Theory............................................................................................... 47
Parameters of Greed................................................................................................. 48
Parameters of Grievance........................................................................................... 49
Collier's Conclusion on Greed versus Grievance........................................................49
Violent Conflict as a Market.......................................................................................50
The Collective Action Problem in Rebel Movements..................................................51
Collier’s response of the Collective Action Problem in Rebellions..............................51
SO, what convinces individuals to join then?.............................................................52
Critiques of Rational Choice Models in Conflict Analysis...............................................53
The Value of Economic Approaches...........................................................................54
Greed as a Policy Framework in Conflict Analysis......................................................55
Consequences of Greed Theory in Conflict Analysis..................................................55
2
, Shift in view on violent actors...................................................................................56
Epistemic violence (spivak).......................................................................................56
Case 1: Albania............................................................................................................. 57
Civil war.................................................................................................................... 57
Two views.................................................................................................................. 58
Case 2: DRC.................................................................................................................. 58
To conclude............................................................................................................... 59
Circular Return.......................................................................................................... 60
concluding.................................................................................................................... 61
Chapter 5: Perspectives on violence..............................................................62
How to frame violence?................................................................................................ 62
The Individual or the structure?....................................................................................63
Violence as product or process?...................................................................................64
The sartre – camus debate...........................................................................................64
intro: Two Views on Revolutionary Violence: Camus and Sartre................................64
Camus on Revolutionary Violence and Individual Humanity.....................................65
Sartre on Violence as Revolutionary Justice..............................................................65
Hannah Arendt on Violence Versus Power.................................................................66
Frantz Fanon on Violence and Liberation......................................................................67
Frantz Fanon on the Utility of Violence in Liberation.................................................67
Frantz Fanon on Decolonization and the Role of Violence.........................................68
Gurr on Relative Deprivation and Civil Strife.................................................................68
Types of Deprivation and Their Impact on Social Behavior........................................69
Butler’s vieuw on Non-Violence and Social Critique...................................................70
The Legitimization of Violence: A Four-Stage Model by Schröder and Schmidt.............71
Violent Imaginaries: The Cultural and Performative Dimensions of Violence.............71
Carolyn Nordstrom on the Nature of Violence...............................................................72
The Psychological Impact of Violence: The Fear of Death..........................................72
The effects of Violence on Society.............................................................................73
Violence and the Existential/observational................................................................73
War and Violence: A Socio-Analytical Perspective by Lubkemann................................73
War as a Complex Social Condition: Beyond Violence (Lubkemann).........................74
Conclusion.................................................................................................................... 74
chatpter 6: vigilantes and the war on terror..................................................75
Part 1: « The war on terror » in Sahel...........................................................................75
New Wars Debate and History of the "War on Terror":..............................................75
A different approach : a definition.............................................................................75
A bit of context.......................................................................................................... 76
Conclusion part 1...................................................................................................... 78
Part 2: A local comparative case – Vigilantism in Sahel................................................79
Introduction............................................................................................................... 79
Studiying violence: the example of vigilantism.........................................................79
Counter-terrorism in Nigeria......................................................................................81
Chapter 7: Jihadi actors in conflict.................................................................87
content......................................................................................................................... 87
Part 1: “Global” Jihad a historical perspective...............................................................87
definition................................................................................................................... 87
Difficult to study........................................................................................................ 88
3
, On the origins of jihad............................................................................................... 89
Main issues in the study of jihad...............................................................................92
part 2: case study: Jihad in the Sahel............................................................................93
Situation in the sahel................................................................................................. 93
Commonly applied perspective.................................................................................94
My methode.............................................................................................................. 97
My theories................................................................................................................ 98
Chapter 8: Genocide.....................................................................................98
Content......................................................................................................................... 98
‘A crime that has no name’........................................................................................... 99
Genocide: An Ancient Crime in Modern Discourse.....................................................99
Historical Instances of Genocide................................................................................99
Genocides in the 20th and early 21st century – cited examples.............................100
Genocide and imperialism.......................................................................................... 100
questionable Cases in Genocide Studies.................................................................102
vague concept, no clear guidelines in use of it...........................................................103
Defining Genocide: Harder vs. Softer Approaches...................................................104
Key Ingredients of Definitions of Genocide (Jones...................................................104
Genocide: Etymology and Historical Context..............................................................105
Lemkin’s Definition of Genocide..............................................................................105
UN Genocide Convention (1948).................................................................................106
limits of UN definition.............................................................................................. 106
Crimes Against Humanity: An Overview and Comparison with Genocide....................107
The Evolution of Genocide Studies..............................................................................108
Strategic or Rationalist Approach to Genocide............................................................108
Three Causal Mechanisms Between War and Genocide (Straus)................................109
Ideological paradigm..................................................................................................110
Complementarity between paradigms (Straus)..........................................................110
Dehumanization and ‘othering’...................................................................................111
Genocide as political violence.....................................................................................111
Case study: The rwandan genocide(nog samenvatten)..............................................112
Structural roots of violence.....................................................................................112
Dehumanization...................................................................................................... 113
100 Days of Killing in Rwanda (1994)......................................................................113
the international response to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda...................................115
the post-genocide situation in Rwanda,...................................................................115
Genocide in gaza........................................................................................................ 116
Conclusion.................................................................................................................. 117
chapter 9: International intrvention and Peace building...............................118
Content....................................................................................................................... 118
The Politics of Intervention.........................................................................................118
The United Nations and peace-keeping......................................................................118
Agenda for peace........................................................................................................ 119
The Ideological Framework: Promoting Liberal Peace.................................................120
From Fragility to Resilience......................................................................................... 121
4
