intrastate conflict Flashcards
(22 cards)
what is war?
conflict between or among political groups, war is “organized” threshold - 1000 deaths within the space of one year
what is the conventional view of conflict
fought between opposing states, war as an instrument of state policy. belligerents are uniformed, organized groups of men. norms and rules are used to regulate conflict
what are features of “new wars”?
intrastate rather than interstate. issues of identity are very prominent and appear as defining issues over why these wars are being fought. often asymmetrical, fought between unequal sides. traditional distinction between civilian and military is blurred and they appear more barbaric
what has happened to interstate war/intrastate conflict
intrastate conflict is on the rise. 95% of armed conflicts since the mid 1990s have occurred within states.
why has interstate war declined?
spread of democracy, advance of globalization, changing moral attitudes to war (how devastating it can be)
why the increase in intrastate conflict?
legacies of colonialism (violence in states that were formally colonized), cold war lifted the lid on old tensions (repressive communist regimes did not allow anyone to fight), drop in foreign support leaving weak and unstable regimes, increased access to weaponry.
what are identity wars/conflicts
a war in which the quest for cultural regeneration, expressed through the demand that a people’s collective identity is publicly and politically recognized is a primary motivation for conflict
what is an example of an identity war
former yugoslavia in the mid 1990s - conflict between muslims and hindus in india as well
what is asymmetrical about war
the nature of warfare - guerrilla warfare and terrorism create a more level playing field. conflicts have a greater impact on civilians today - fighting via small-scale engagements, civilians are increasingly the target of military action
is war more barbaric ? why?
rules of war are put aside today. enemies are defined in terms of membership in a particular group vs their role/actions. identity conflicts are characterized by their militancy and this leads to more ethnic cleansing.
what are key aspects of peace
structural violence, negative vs positive peace, human nature
what is structural violence
violence built in and incorporated into political, economic and or cultural structures of society
three forms of violence
direct physical, indirect, structural violence
negative vs positive peace?
negative - the absence of direct violence, positive - the absence of structural violence
ambiguities of peace
peace agreements, peace keeping, ceasefires, return to reconstruction and development, and democracy/rule of law
peace agreements
they reward violent behaviour and leave root causes unaddressed. significant compromises are made
peace keeping
priority - avoid casualties to own personnel - inabillity to protect civilians - presence can equate to more harm for civilians
ceasefires
often result in more violence, usually broken, easy thing to halt violence for a bit but it’s ineffective
return to reconstruction and development
violence has been generated by the system, structural violence is often embedded in processes of development
democracy/rule of law
capitalist systems feed into legacy of systems. securing democracy can be an extremely violent process.
questions to ask about peace
whose peace? peace on what terms? peace in whose interests? who is being excluded? what kind of peace are you working toward?
