Abstract

The economic dimension of civil war in the post-Cold War era has been largely obscured by two assumptions: that identity differences constitute the dominant paradigm in civil war and that civil war (as opposed to peace) is inherently irrational and dysfunctional. The limitations of these assumptions were challenged in a conference held in April 1999 to look at the economic behaviour, incentives and disincentives of warring parties "?". The conference discussions revealed that war frequently becomes an alternative system of profit and power favoring certain groups at the expense of others. The findings of the conference were co-published by IDRC under the title, "Greed and Grievance: Economic agendas in civil wars." [Focus Book?] Based on these findings, the International Peace Academy (IPA) decided to launch a collaborative research project entitled "Economic Agendas in Civil Wars." This grant will allow IDRC to support one element of the project, a workshop focusing on the economic behaviour of belligerents in conflict zones. The workshop will be hosted by the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria, South Africa. It will bring together researchers from various countries to address the methodological and operational issues related to case studies drawn from Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia.

Recipient Institution(s)