The Resource Curse: Are Civil Wars Driven by Rapacity or Paucity? (Summary) by Indra de Soysa
Contained below are excerpts from the reading I found important enough to outline the concept of the paper.
A high dependence
on primary goods exports is significantly and robustly related to the incidence
of civil war
This position is
based on the premise that the availability of natural resources spawns violent
conflict because it provides incentives for rebel groups to form on the basis
of capturing loot, which also sustains the activity of these groups; mineral
resources are also easily captured
War is
detrimental to society but small, organized groups stand to “do well out of war.”
This logic explains why conflict appears and reappears frequently despite the
deleterious effects of wanton destruction in civil war situations
From the
environmental security perspective, ecological transformation alters the
sociopolitical fabric of society, disrupting productive relationships and
ultimately adversely affecting established constraints on and mechanisms of
social peace
The argument is
that poor countries stay poor and suffer armed conflict because resource
scarcity acts to prevent socioeconomic innovation
Greed-motivated
rebellion will be proxied by the lootable income inherent in natural resources,
especially subsoil assets
Security-motivated
rebellion is proxied by the availability of renewable resources
Ethnicity and
democracy proxy the social bases of potential grievance-motivated rebellion. Economic
growth and the openness of the economy also proxy grievance-based explanations
An abundance of
subsoil assets has a direct positive effect on intrastate armed conflict, not
of variables controlling for economic, political, and social factors
An abundance of
natural capital that is purely renewable, such as agricultural and timber
assets, has a weak negative effect on conflict, net of variables
How can a country
escape from resource dependence and manage to innovate? Economic growth through
developmental assistance
Countries have
far brighter longer-term economic prospects if they are not dependent on
resources, especially mineral wealth
Rapacity (aggressive greed) encouraged
by an abundance of natural resources tends to fuel civil conflict
Paucity (scarcity) of
natural resources does not seem to be such a strong factor in determining the likelihood
of civil strife, despite the recent upsurge in environmental degradation and
scarcity as a source of conflict
Economic progress
has much to do with the incentives that motivate innovation
Resource availability
may have little to do with economic innovation, compared with other social and
political factors
Environmental degradation
is possibly part of a vicious cycle of poor governance, underdevelopment, and
conflict
Conflict also
leads to environmental degradation when farmers abandon land in search of cool
ground and become refugees elsewhere
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