ZEF Bonn

Box 2: Political conflicts and natural resource abundance
The collapse of the Cold War has intensified the search for the causes of civil
violence. Some highly popularised explanations see creeping ecological and
demographic pressure as the causal mechanism behind many of today's violent
conflicts, competing with standard explanations within the social sciences.
Apparently increasing 'environmental scarcity' and resultant Malthusian pressure
have created a new age of insecurity that is driving people to fight for 'survival'.
Others argue that conflict is caused by 'greed' rather than 'grievance' or
vulnerability, and that an abundance of natural resources supplies the motivation
for organising violence, particularly mineral wealth. Resources offer 'lootable'
income over which to fight, making costly strategies of violence viable. In
other words, 'greed' is the motivation and easy 'finance' allows large-scale conflict
to be generated.
ZEF research has utilised alternative models, and empirical testing procedures
confirm support for greed-based explanations. Countries with abundant mineral
wealth are particularly unstable, highlighting the need for governing resources
better to ensure both peace and sustainable development. This research also
tries to bridge the economics of war literature with those of political science to
offer a broader perspective on resource wealth and the failure of governance. In
future, policy-makers will do well to think creatively about ways financial aid
and technical assistance are used to foster institutions around wealth management
as much as around its creation.
de Soysa, I.: “Paradise is a Bazaar? Testing the Greed, Creed, Grievance and
Governance Hypothesis on Civil War". In: Journal of Peace Research 49 (4),
2002, pp. 395-416.
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