Are Congo's mines the main target of the armed groups on its soil?

Authors

  • Steven Spittaels
  • Filip Hilgert

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15355/epsj.4.1.55

Keywords:

Democratic Republic of Congo, Kivu, conflict, mining, natural resources

Abstract

The authors develop a qualitative geographic research tool for case studies of conflict areas. They believe it can furnish convincing evidence on war motivation. They use the tool to analyze concrete military actions and decisions and to trace them back to what provoked them. They apply it to the conflict situation in the DR Congo between August 2007 and January 2008. In this article special attention is given to the role of natural resources in the armed conflict. Its importance as a war motivation factor is compared to three other conflict drivers found in the literature on the causes of war.

References

Agnew, J. 1998. Geopolitics. Re-visioning World Politics. London: Routledge.

Chauprade, A. 1999. Introduction à l'analyse géopolitique. Paris: Ellipses.

Collier, P. 2000. “Economic Causes of Civil Conflict and their Implications for Policy.” Washington, D.C.: World Bank.

Collier, P., et al. 2003. Breaking the Conflict Trap. Civil War and Development Policy. Washington, D.C.: World Bank.

Collier, P. and A. Hoeffler. 2004. “Greed and Grievance in Civil War.” Oxford Economic Papers, Vol. 56, No. 4, pp. 563-595.

Cramer, C. 2002. “Homo Economicus Goes to War: Methodological Individualism, Rational Choice and the Political Economy of War.” World Development, Vol. 30, No. 11, pp. 1845-1864.

Criekemans, D. 2007 Geopolitiek. 'Geografisch geweten' van de buitenlandse politiek? Antwerp: Garant.

Custers, R. 2008. “Democratic Republic of the Congo. Mining Contracts - State of Affairs. The Congo Wants to Raise the Profits of its Mining Sector.” IPIS article. Antwerp, Belgium: IPIS.

Fédération des comités de Solidarité avec l'Afrique. 2008. “À qui profite la nouvelle guerre au Congo?” Press release. Spain: Umoya. 29 October 2008.

FinnWatch. 2007. “Connecting Components, Dividing Communities: Tin Production for Consumer Electronics in the DR Congo and Indonesia.” FinnWatch Report. Helsinki: FinnWatch. http://www.finnwatch.org/pdf/DRCwebversio.pdf [accessed 5 December 2008].

Garret, N. 2007. “The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM).” Draft report. EITI. http://eitransparency.org/files/publication_file/NG_EITI_Report_22_10_Final.pdf [accessed 5 December 2008].

Global Witness. 2005. “Under-Mining Peace. Tin: The Explosive Trade in Cassiterite in Eastern DRC.” Report. London: Global Witness. http://www.globalwitness.org/media_library_get.php/238/Under-Mining%20Peace.pdf [accessed 5 December].

Global Witness. 2008. “Resource Plunder still Driving Eastern Congo Conflict.” Press release. London: Global Witness.

Harff, B. and T.B. Gurr. 2004. Ethnic Conflict in World Politics. 2nd ed. Oxford: Westview Press.

Hari J. 2008. “How we Fuel Africa’s Bloodiest War. What is Rarely Mentioned is the Great Global Heist of Congo’s Resources.” The Independent. 1 November 2008.

Hirshleifer, J. 1995. “Theorizing about Conflict.” Los Angeles, CA: Department of Economics, University of California, Los Angeles.

Homer-Dixon, T.F. 1996. “Environmental Scarcity, Mass Violence, and the Limits to Ingenuity.” Current History, Vol. 95, No. 604, pp. 359-365.

Horowitz, D.L. 2000. Ethnic Groups in Conflict. London: University of California Press.

International Crisis Group. 2007. “Congo: Bringing Peace to North Kivu.” Crisis Group Africa Report, No. 133. Nairobi/Brussels: International Crisis Group. http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=5134&l=1 [accessed 5 December 2008].

Keen, D. 1998. “The Economic Functions of Violence in Civil Wars.” Adelphi Paper. London: Institute for International Strategic Studies.

Miall, H., O. Ramsbotham, and T. Woodhouse. 1999. Contemporary Conflict Resolution. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Miller, J. 2005. “Tin Soldiers.” TV report. London: Channel 4. http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/world/congos%20tin%20soldiers/108670 [accessed 5 December 2008].

Peluso, N.L. and M. Watts, eds. 2001. Violent Environments. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

Romkema H. 2007. “Opportunities and Constraints for the Disarmament and Repatriation of Foreign Armed Groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo.” MDRP commissioned report. De Veenhoop, The Netherlands: Conflict & Transition Consultancies.

Sambanis, N. 2001. “Do Ethnic and Nonethnic Civil Wars Have the Same Causes? A Theoretical and Empirical Inquiry (Part 1).” Journal of Conflict Resolution, Vol. 45, No. 3, pp. 259-282.

Spittaels, S. and F. Hilgert. 2008. “Mapping Conflict Motives: Eastern DRC.” IPIS Report. Antwerp: IPIS, http://www.ipisresearch.be/mapping_kivu.php [accessed 11 December 2008].

Tegera, A. and D. Johnson. 2007. “Rules for Sale: Formal and Informal Crossborder Trade in Eastern DRC.” Report. Goma: Pole Institute. http://www.pole-institute.org/documents/regard19_anglais.pdf [accessed 5 December 2008].

Woodward, S.L. 2005. “The Inequality of Violence: On the Discovery of Civil War as a Threat to ‘The North’ in the 1990s and the Debate over Causes and Solutions.” New York: The Graduate Center, City University of New York.

Downloads

Published

2009-01-01

How to Cite

Spittaels, S., & Hilgert, F. (2009). Are Congo’s mines the main target of the armed groups on its soil?. The Economics of Peace and Security Journal, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.15355/epsj.4.1.55

Issue

Section

Articles

Similar Articles

<< < 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.