Chapter 15 Persistent Political Violence Global Issue 4

Democide A government killing its own people, usually stemming from political motivation Democide and war combined to make the 20 th century one of the bloodiest centuries on record A few of the recent conflicts include: – Endless “official” conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan – Civil strife in Sudan, Somalia, and Colombia – The Arab Spring that affected Libya, Syria, Bahrain, and elsewhere

Why Is There Conflict? If we are so intelligent and have accomplished so much, why do we still fight and kill each other? Explanations for this phenomenon: – Inability to study violence in a controlled atmosphere – History – Geography – Economics – Culture

History’s Role in Conflict Historical realities always play a role in explaining interstate war, civil war, insurrection, or democide Colonization and imperialist actions of the past have caused many conflicts in many time periods throughout history One example: Yugoslavia’s fight for independence in the 1990’s

Geography’s Role In Conflict History and geography combine to account for many conflicts worldwide Distinct cultures, languages, religions, and ideologies in such close proximity usually leads to tension One example: British colonization in Africa attempted to combine two unique cultures in the Sudanese region

Economics and Conflict Economic disparity fuels resentment and combines with other factors that lead to armed conflict Examples: – The Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the Middle-East Per capita GDP in Israel ten times that of Palestine – Northern Ireland’s “troubles” Catholics in Ireland a whole lot less prosperous than the Protestants

Culture’s Role In Conflict People are different, have had different experiences, have different histories as we have learned in the previous chapters These differences led/lead to disputes which lead to conflict One example: – Decade long conflict in Sri Lanka between the Buddhist Sinhalese and the Hindu Tamils

Violence in Culture Some states, cities, villages have had conflict for long periods of time. – People become accustomed to conflict – Conflict becomes a natural thing, almost a necessity for some groups of people Many countries like Colombia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, find it hard to rid themselves of conflict because it is all they know The exception: Ireland – Recently peace has been brought about when no one thought it was possible