Marie-Joëlle Zahar Associate Professor, Political Science Research Director, Francophone Research Network on Peace Operations Université de Montréal CERIUM Summer School on Peace Operations

 Relations between human beings and their environment.  The geography of conflicts Environment (natural, social, economic, political)  Violence CERIUM Summer School on Peace Operations

 The end of the Cold War and its impact on conflicts ◦ A decrease in the number of interstate wars ◦ An increase in the number of intrastate wars  New considerations for research and policy ◦ Non-state armed actors ◦ Civilians as targets ◦ Questions about international responsibility ◦ Questions about the limits of the sovereignty principle CERIUM Summer School on Peace Operations

Philippe Rekacewicz, Le monde diplomatique, January CERIUM Summer School on Peace Operations The main armed conflicts of the 1990s

 Are certains types of terrains more frequently associated with civil wars? ◦ Fearon and Laitin: rough terrain  Why? ◦ Geography and the challenges of projecting state power- Herbst ◦ Geography and the opportunity costs of starting an armed movement CERIUM Summer School on Peace Operations

mining.org/kosovoweb/en/kosovo/geography/basicContentParagraphs/02/ima ge/about_kosovo_village.jpg CERIUM Summer School on Peace Operations Kosovo: A rough terrain

 Natural resources as a cause of war ◦ The greed vs. grievance debate – Collier and Hoeffler ◦ The old vs. new war debate – Kaldor, Berdal and Keen  Resources, the nerve of war ◦ Resources and recruitment – Weinstein ◦ Ressurces and military equipment – Naylor ◦ Resources and spoiling  Resources and the ultimate objective of the war - Le Billon ◦ Two standard types of considerations: ◦ The spatial distribution of resources: diffuse vs. concentrated ◦ The distance from the capital/seat of power: proximate vs. distant  Four ideal types of resource distributions associated with four different expressions of violence CERIUM Summer School on Peace Operations

CERIUM Summer School on Peace Operations Blood diamonds in Sierra Leone

Colonialism and borders o States with a legitimacy deficit o Ethnic fractionalization The impact of the Cold War o Alliances with the Great Powers as regime survival strategies The end of the Cold War o The dumping of client states o The sale of small arms and light weapons (SALW) CERIUM Summer School on Peace Operations

Cartes © Le Monde Diplomatique CERIUM Summer School on Peace Operations Le colonialisme, la guerre froide et l’Afrique

Globalisation and civil wars o Globalisation as a spatial phenomenon o Globalisation and the political economy of civil wars – transnational trading networks, licit and illicit o Globalisation and the political economy of regime survival – deepening inequalities internationally and nationally (Murshed) CERIUM Summer School on Peace Operations

Understanding the vulnerability of states to conflict CERIUM Summer School on Peace Operations

 Social Indicators Mounting Demographic Pressures Massive Movement of Refugees or Internally Displaced Persons creating Complex Humanitarian Emergencies Legacy of Vengeance-Seeking Group Grievance or Group Paranoia Chronic and Sustained Human Flight  Economic Indicators Uneven Economic Development along Group Lines Sharp and/or Severe Economic Decline  Political Indicators Criminalization and/or Delegitimization of the State Progressive Deterioration of Public Services Suspension or Arbitrary Application of the Rule of Law and Widespread Violation of Human Rights Security Apparatus Operates as a "State Within a State“ Rise of Factionalized Elites Intervention of Other States or External Political Actors CERIUM Summer School on Peace Operations

 Risk factors and inevitability  State fragility, a highly political process CERIUM Summer School on Peace Operations