Keeping the War Going Flashcards
(20 cards)
What is the “sell-game” according to David Keen?
The “sell-game” is when conflict actors (e.g., rebels) craft narratives of grievance to gain support or legitimacy, while actually pursuing economic or power-related goals.
(Keen, 2007)
Who is David Keen, and what is his main argument about war?
David Keen argues that modern wars are often not fought to win, but to sustain political and economic systems of benefit to elites. He critiques the greed vs grievance binary and introduces the idea that war becomes functional, enabling looting, repression, and aid diversion. Keen 2007
What is Paul Collier’s main argument about civil war causes?
Collier argues that civil wars are primarily driven by economic motives—especially resource exploitation—rather than by grievances like inequality or political exclusion.
(Collier, 2000; 2003)
How does David Keen critique Paul Collier’s models of civil war?
Keen claims Collier oversimplifies conflict by ignoring political, emotional, and historical dimensions, and over-relies on quantitative models that lack contextual depth.
(Keen, 2007)
Who is Sarah Lischer and what is her critique of humanitarian aid?
Lischer argues that humanitarian aid can exacerbate conflict, especially when refugees form “states-in-exile” and militarize camps, using aid to support further violence.
(Lischer, 2003)
What typology does Lischer offer for refugee groups and aid risks?
She classifies refugees into situational, persecuted, and state-in-exile groups—each with increasing risk of militarizing aid and prolonging conflict.
(Lischer, 2003)
What do Barry & Jefferys argue about the military–humanitarian relationship?
They warn that increasing military involvement in humanitarian tasks blurs neutrality, endangers aid workers, and politicizes aid, especially in post-9/11 contexts.
(Barry & Jefferys, 2002)
What is the Small Arms Survey and its key finding?
The Small Arms Survey (2001) labels small arms as the true “weapons of mass destruction,” with over 500,000 annual deaths and widespread destabilization from their proliferation.
What did Global Witness (1998) expose about conflict diamonds?
It exposed how De Beers and others helped finance UNITA’s war in Angola by purchasing conflict diamonds, showing corporate complicity in war economies.
What is a war economy?
A system where conflict becomes economically viable and self-sustaining through looting, resource trade, diaspora funding, and illicit markets.
(Keen, 2007)
Why is conflict resolution so difficult in complex emergencies?
Because many actors—including rebels, states, businesses, and even aid groups—benefit from the conflict and have incentives to prolong it.
(Keen, 2007)
What does Keen argue about the economic impact of war in Africa?
Conflict cost African economies an estimated $300 billion over 15 years, impeding development and making peace less attractive for some actors.
(Oxfam estimate; Keen, 2007)
How can international aid contribute to conflict?
Aid can be taxed, stolen, or diverted by armed groups; it may sustain militants’ families or grant legitimacy to rebel authorities.
(Lischer, 2003; Keen, 2007)
How is the arms trade connected to war economies?
Legal and illicit arms trades fuel conflict by enabling violence, often with state complicity, profit motives, and poor regulation.
(Small Arms Survey, 2001)
What role do international corporations play in prolonging conflict?
They may exploit unstable zones for resources, often trading with rebel groups and profiting from weak regulation.
(Global Witness, 1998; Keen, 2007)
What are small arms, and why are they problematic?
Weapons like AK-47s and pistols, often decades old and cheap, which are easy to smuggle, durable, and widely used in both civil and regional wars.
(Small Arms Survey, 2001)
Why does Keen reject the “greed vs grievance” framework?
He argues that the two are intertwined—grievance can fuel looting, and looting can cause grievances. Reducing war to one or the other oversimplifies reality.
(Keen, 2007)
What happened in Sierra Leone according to Keen?
Both rebels and the government exploited the diamond trade to prolong the war; violence targeted civilians to maintain control, not to achieve military victory.
(Keen, 2007)
What does Keen argue about Afghanistan post-9/11?
The war served multiple functions beyond fighting terror—such as controlling opium, aid, and strategic positions—while humanitarian aid was militarized.
(Keen, 2007)
What is a “state-in-exile” refugee group?
A politically cohesive refugee population fleeing military defeat, aiming to return by force and using aid to support its goals.
(Lischer, 2003)
