Role of Greed and Grievance in Civil War

Role of Greed and Grievance in Civil WarThe section that cupidity and grievance play in genteel fightf atomic number 18 is its emergence. Their occasion is a crucial and controversial virtuoso in the creation of obliging wars. in that respect digest been various arguments concerning their billet in its emergence, with most for avarice as the key factor as the backb cardinal of all meshing including urbane war while a some others also consider sorrows quality. However, it is my opinion that both work hand in hand to create the violence that is civil war. virtually could even see how whizz begets the other, legitimizing the creation of one through the existence of the other. Either way the procedure both avariciousness and ag sorrow play is one of an instigator. This paper will illustrates how both factors have intertwining bureaus in the exitrence of civil war the aim is to show how one factors role influences the other and how one factors role can overlap and bl ur the other bug out. This will be done by looking at various explanations for civil war belongingsd to avaritia and sorrow individual(a)ly. To discuss these terms and their role in the emergence of civil war it is crucial to understand what they mean and why they be considered active role players in the creation of civil war.Civil War is conflict that arises when militant mathematical groups of flock attack a government and or civilians persistently ( coal miner, 200354).What exactly is greed and how does it perplex into play in the occurrence of civil war? Greed according to the English dictionary (dictionary.com) is excessive or rapacious desire especially for riches or possessions. It is the need to acquire more than you need winning or having more of what you already have. So who is the greedy in civil war? found on the definition, do the greedy exist in the sense of the word? If they do, then it is crucial to investigate how the greed generates grievance and rebe llion, legitimizing further greed (Keen,200032) as part of its role in the occurrence of civil war through, the actions of the greedy.Various economic and political factors contribute to the emergence and creation of civil war get-go from diversity in terms of resource allocation to participation in the decision making process. There have been various arguments as to what really causes civil war the prominent answer is economic inequality. The general topic is that people want more plan of attack to resources and because they cannot get it, they take it by force. In this sense, then yes the greedy exist and play a major role in the occurrence of civil war. On the other hand, those who do not have access to recourses at all and just want to enjoy the benefits and access to it in the first place (not more access) be not greedy but needy. The material participants(people doing the actual fighting, and protesting) of civil war are not acting according to greed, for greed as earlie r defined is wanting more of what you already have. They on the other hand just want access to resources denied of them, denoting previous lack.It is easy to link economic need and lack of resources to greed even more so as the focus is often on how the selected manipulate the patchs to create civil unrest and strife, and how they and a few others benefit from it. The error is in considering these groups of people to be the only actors of civil war. The aim here is not to diminish the role of greed, for it plays just as important a role as grieve does as will be later discussed. The aim is to point out that it is important to consider those acting from greed and those from grieve, and the role of grievance in causation civil war before giving all the credit to greeds role as the dominant player in the creation of civil conflict. It is impossible for one factor (grieve or greed) to stir up conflict without the presence of the other factor.The greedy, often times are many entrepre neurs, rebel lords and their gangs, and a few elites (including some governments) that have something to gain from civil unrest are motivated by their greed, their desire to hoard more resources, their access to it, and the benefits gained from said resources (in form of employment, education, wealth etc). Their interest is vested in the continuation of war and so they manipulate the grieve that exists in the rescript which more often than not is a result of their greed. These are the few Collier talks about when he says, civil war creates economic opportunities for a minority of actors even as they destroy it for the majority (Collier, 200091). This brings me to the point that the greedy are few but their impact and influence on the occurrence of civil war is big. Greed plays a minor yet visible role in civil war. The greedy few use the genuine grieve of the majority to advance their own economic agenda. According to Collier (2000), grieve is utilise to recruit actors in civil war.To understand the role of grieve it is important to define it and consider what constitutes the sentiment. Grieve refers to pain over injustice or fatal circumstances as used in the English dictionary grieve is to feel great sorrow, be mentally distressed or oppressed and wronged (Dictionary.com). This attribute is evident when considering factors that contribute to civil war. Looking at the case of Rwanda (Caplan, 2007) where the Tutsi had previously oppressed the Hutus during colonialism. The Hutu neighborly group embarked on an social cleansing mission of the Tutsi ethnic group when they gained political power. This example illustrates how grieve came into play for Rwandas civil war. Ethnic differences, which resulted in oppression of one group by the other, created tension and grieve that erupted into violence.The role of Grieve and greed as creators of civil war is evident in that they are the foundations for each explanatory factor given for the occurrence of civil wa r. They are the driving forces behind factors contributing to civil war like ethnic differences, manipulative leaders and so forth. For each factor attributed to greed, there is grieve operative with it making it possible for greed to be pursued, and for each grieve backed reason for civil war, greed is presently active. Both factors work together, greed creates grieve and it is also possible for greed to emerge from that grieve (Cramer, 2002) without one, the other really does not exist in civil war. Thus far, the contribution and role of greed and grieve as individual factors in the occurrence of civil war in a solid ground has been show, now focus is directed to illustrate how their individual roles intertwine and work hand in hand. This scene of the essay is going to examine the roles both grieve and greed play in different greed or grieve specific explanations offered for the cause of civil war.The most prominent explanation or contributing factor to civil war in belles-let tres and media seems to be economic agenda (Collier 2003) (greed explanation) and inequality (grieve explanation) between groups and people in the society as previously noted. The idea behind this is that people engage in conflict in order to advance their own economic agenda, be it access to previously denied resources or to gain more access to said resources. Collier (200093-95) uses a number of proxies to explain how greed motivates conflict. For instance, the availability of primary loot-able resources(also discussed in Collier, 2008) in a country creates an avenue for conflict to develop out of greed because of what is to be gained from looting (be it profit from actual sale of good or use of it). Another proxy used was the number of untested men without ponder prospects whose income earning potentials and educational levels are low (Collier, 200095).According to this analogy groundless young men with no prospects living in a country with an abundance or somewhat large number of primary resources is a recipe for conflict in said society because of idleness and availability of loot-able resources and of course greed. These young jobless men without prospects do not have jobs or proper paying jobs because they have been denied access to proper and good or any form of education(also a factor that contributes to grieve). They may even have one but cannot get any or good employment because of inequality in the society. A country with large commodity exports obviously has the resources to make things better for these people or at least the means (sale of said commodity resources) to make things better. The availability of young men and primary export commodities shows how greeds role as a generator of civil war works. The explanation also illustrates how grieve (also an instigator of civil war) plays its role in this dominantly greed backed explanation. Grieve experienced over the unfavorable conditions and employment status or lack thereof of these young men light-emitting diode them to resort to conflict to acquire some of the economic resources not made accessible to them. Colliers argument is that countries with large primary resources are prone to more civil war. The logic of his argument is that resource-rich countries have a higher probability for conflict than resource-poor ones (Soya, 2000120). Well certainly, there is some credit to this logic because resource poor countries have little or no resources.The difference between these two types of countries is that resource rich countries have resources. The scarcity of said resources within the country where the benefits of such resources are not visible or made equally available to its citizens are bound to experience rebellion from the majority of the population considering how only a minority benefits. The sense of injustice and feeling of unfairness likely to arise from the knowledge that certain resources are available but to only a few elite is enough to bring about grieve. This is also likely to motivate rebels and cause an uprising, and not only the idea that there is excess to acquire and more to be made from black market so let us loot and make our own profits like Collier and Soya would have us believe. The greed proxies (available young men, primary resource and education level) and explanations show greeds role at work, and shows that of grieve in civil war, illustrating how one cannot work without the other.The grievance factors of civil war and some of the grieve backed explanations for civil war like differences and animosity existing between groups in the society, and how they contribute to the emergence of civil war also illustrate the role of greed. The first of many is raw ethnic or religious hatred (Collier, 200095). The logic behind this is that people are panic-struck of what they do not know or understand. Therefore, a society that is deep separated establish on different ethnicities and religious views will experience civil unrest at some point or the other because the society is invested in the differences that exist. Take for instance the Biafra war of Nigeria. The Biafra civil war broke out because of the three major ethnic groups (Hausa, Yoruba, and Igbo) in the country, out of which the Igbo were not represented in government. They no longer were actively included in politics after years of being at the forefront of Nigerian politics, and running the country with the last p confrontnt (removed through a coup dtat) being from the Igbo ethnic group (Ralph, 2004). Their lack of representation meant their access to certain resources were limited. The ethnic groups in power based on solidarity-favored members of their own ethnic group, their regions had better systems of education, and employment fortune was regularly based on whom you knew and what ethnic group you belonged to. They only cared about and helped their own people while members of other ethnic groups were being slaughtered and maltreated. This goes to show how deeply rooted the society was in ethnic identities and differences. So much so, that the Igbo felt oppressed and resentment grew. The situation escalated because of problems surrounding the presence of crude oil in the region of the country occupied by the Igbo. The profits made from the resources found in their regions or their lands was not distributed equally around the regions of the nation and especially not in the regions, they were found in. In addition, the Igbo leaders decided to keep the profits to themselves to improve the standard of living of maltreated ethnic group members ( planetary Security.org). Out of grieve over the extent of inequality in the nation the Igbo felt the need to secede.The Nigeria Biafra war illustration of ethnic identities and differences creating civil strife supports the idea that societies that are highly fractionalized by both ethnicity and religion (Collier, 200095) will have more incidence of civil war. Furthermore, the ill ustration not only shows grieve playing its role as a creator of civil war by supporting the grieve backed explanation for causes of civil, in this case ethnic differences and inequality, it also shows greeds role in the occurrence of the Nigerian Biafra civil war. The Igbo were oppressed, agreed but they did not threaten to secede up until they lost their position of power in government (an Igbo was in the presidential office) and found an excuse (Using the proceeds to help the oppressed) to keep the benefits and profits from the valuable natural resource found in the southeast region of Nigeria, where the Igbo reside to themselves. The presence of such a valuable resource like crude oil bendinged the Igbo greedy and their state of oppression created an avenue for that greed to show. They valued to keep the benefits from crude oil to themselves and break from the country. With the already existing situation of the ruling ethnic groups (Hausa and Yoruba), isolating resources based on ethnicity, and their greed in taking and keeping the benefits of the resources without any of it trickling down to the Igbo added to the existing rage and grieve over inequalities that abound in the society and oppression. More importantly, it legitimized the greed of the Igbo group if it was all practiced for the ruling groups to hoard resources, it was all right for them to take their resource and keep it for themselves. The ruling groups out of greed kept resources for themselves, this resulted in the neglected groups (Igbo) grieve. Because of their greed, the ruling ethnic groups (Hausa and Yoruba) desired to keep the resource within their grasps and power so they can benefit more from it. This greed possibly led them to resist the secession of the Igbo group away from the nation. The Igbo on the other hand out of grieve over limited access to resources grew greedy and wanted to break from the country at the uncovering of a valuable resource (crude oil) they wanted to keep to for themselves. This just goes to show how greed causes grieve and how both factors work together to manipulate situations in a way that results into violence.Another grieve backed factor for civil war that shows the role of both grieve and greed as creators of civil war is the idea of economic inequality again. This factor shows the perfect relationship between the roles of greed and grieve. The latter stemming from the unavailability of certain things like land for instance which Collier (2000) uses as proxy for inequality to others because the elite of the society have access to it. The greed of some in accumulation of resources for themselves and in the process causing grieve for those who do not have access to or are unable enjoy certain benefits derived from it. Ultimately greed from one side coupled with grieve from some other equals civil war or at least leads to some form of conflict and even more so in a country with jerry-built governance.A weak government implies g overnment economic incompetence (Collier, 200096) and an inability to control or prevent an outbreak of conflict in case one arises from said incompetence. Where there is an gawky government, greed and grieve have an avenue to breed and reinforce each other in the creation of civil war. An incompetent government is to some extent responsible for economic inequality. The government is tasked with the duty of making resources available to its citizens equally or at the very least provides social safety nets when and where needed. If the government fails to provide these resources in an equal manner and create an equal atmosphere, inequalities are bound to be more apparent in the society and grieve from such inequalities as explained earlier may erupt into civil war. In addition, having a government that supports greed and is itself greedy and corrupt is another aspect in which a weak governance can and often adds to the incidence of civil war and reinforce the role of greed and griev e as its creators. through its greedy activities like accepting bribes from elites to maybe get more electricity in certain parts of the country or a government that fails to bear public amenities such as the public school system because funds for such maintenance out of greed are diverted into their personal accounts creates grieve. Those that cannot afford private school for their kids or those that cannot afford to bribe them are ultimately denied the use of and access to basic resources. This type of behavior creates the foundation for inequality starting from basic education, which would later reflect in other areas of life like employment and income amongst other things. Government incompetence enhances the role of grieve and greed and creates a breeding ground for them to fester. A government with no desire to end conflict because of how they benefit from it be it through bribes from those that want to keep the situation the way it is or based on their own interest legitimi zes greed which goes on to create grieve which may or may not turn into greed and the cycle continues.Ultimately the role of greed and grieve in civil war is the creation of civil war. Factors that explain why civil wars occur are based on greed or grieve and are generally categorized as grieve based or greed based showing how important their role is in civil war. Without the presence of these factors (Greed and Grieve) civil war does not exist, it does not escalate and it does not continue. They are the fuel to the conflagrate that is civil war. In conclusion, greed and grieve as creators of civil war reinforce each. One does not exist without the other and so to ignore the role of one in causing civil war is to leave the glass half-empty. To understand how various explanations of civil war factors work, it is important to recognize that both grieve and greed work together to effectively create the situation. For without greed, grieve cannot effectively play its role and create ci vil war, and neither can greed without grieve.BibliographyAmartya Sen. (2008). Violence, Identity, and Poverty. ledger of Peace Research. 45 (1), pCaplan, Gerald. (2007). RwandaWalking the Road to Genocide. In Allan Thompson The media and the Rwanda genocide. London Pluto Press. p20-40.Collier, Paul. (2008). The Conflict Trap. In Collier The Bottom Billion Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can Be Done About It. New York Oxford University Press. p17-37.Collier, Hoeffler, and Sambanis. (2005). The Collier-Hoeffler Model of Civil War Onset and the Case Study Project Research Design. 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