Greed and Grievance: Economic Agendas in Civil Wars (Introduction)

Abstract

The presence of economic motives and commercial agendas in wars is not so much a new phenomenon as a familiar theme in the history of warfare. In recent times, as the contributors to this volume show, the licensing of economically motivated violence in such places as Sierra Leone and Liberia has resembled, in terms of its functional utility, both medieval and early modern patterns of warfare. However, in the recent literature on conflict and, even more so, in the practice of international and nongovernmental organizations, comparatively little systematic attention has been given to the precise role of economically motivated actions and processes in generating and sustaining contemporary civil conflicts. This volume is intended to improve our understanding in this area.

Keywords: conflict, war, economics, violence, Liberia, Sierra Leone, civil war, UN, UNITA