Conflict trap is a term to describe the pattern when

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

s repeat themselves.

Description

Scholars have offered a few reasons for it, after

Paul Collier Sir Paul Collier, (born 23 April 1949) is a British development economist who serves as the Professor of Economics and Public Policy in the Blavatnik School of Government and the director of the International Growth Centre. He currently is a ...

and Nicholas Sambanis (2002) noticed a pattern and coined the term ‘conflict trap’. Firstly, a civil war can aggravate the causal political and economic conditions which lead to a repeat civil war. Other reasons can be because the

combatant Combatant is the legal status of an individual who has the right to engage in hostilities during an armed conflict. The legal definition of "combatant" is found at article 43(2) of Additional Protocol I (AP1) to the Geneva Conventions of 1949. It ...

s are fighting over stakes that are valuable to both parties, combatants are unable to defeat each other or are engaged in a serious war of long duration. Political and legal institutions play an important role in inhibiting repeat civil wars, and thus preventing a country from entering a conflict trap. Strong institutions can put checks on the incumbent's power, hence ensuring

public welfare Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...

, which means rebels have fewer reasons to restart a civil war, and which removes the need for the rebels to maintain an army or a threat of war. Strong political and legal systems also give a non-violent platform to rebels to bring about desired changes, so they may not feel a need to adopt violent ways of protest. There can be other reasons why a civil war may start and repeat itself. There may be intense grievances held by the groups, which motivate them to fight. Inferior health conditions, lower

GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is ofte ...

, and poor

human development Human development may refer to: * Development of the human body * Developmental psychology * Human development (economics) * Human Development Index, an index used to rank countries by level of human development * Human evolution Human evoluti ...

create conditions for dissatisfaction, and hence civil wars. If a country is poor, it may be easier for rebels to organize an army to start a civil war. Weaker states provide an easier path for rebellion, since they lack sufficient capacity to effectively keep rebels in check. A country's geography may also contribute in wars, since rebels can easily escape and evade detection. Where a population holds significant grievances, governments can be reluctant to make concessions to violent groups if they were previously unwilling to submit to nonviolent pressure. If they are willing to make concessions, a resolution could be prevented due to commitment problems.

References

{{Reflist Conflict (process)

Description

See also

References