Geography 4712 Week 3 Recitation Collier “What fuels civil war?” What are the typical left, center and right explanations for civil wars? What is the central thesis of the chapter? What is the “conflict trap?’ Which types of poor countries have the highest risks of civil wars? Why? Why would a political organization take the route of violent rebellion rather than an organized protest? Somewhat counter-intuitively, why does more ethnic and religious diversity dampen the risk of civil war? (see fig. 3.1) What ratio of ethnic majority significantly increase the risk of civil war? Why? Note 3 key economic indicators related to civil war (box 3.1) – GDP per capita, economic growth and resource economies. What is irredentist nationalism? Why does the presence of a valuable resource in a minority region increase the odds of a secessionist movement? Why are oil, drugs, diamonds etc the most critical resource in civil wars? (Hint: “lootable”) Why is the “ethnic grievance” argument so powerful? Connect it to Nairn’s uneven development theory (cited in Ch 4 of the text).Somewhat counter-intuitively, why does more foreign aid increase the odds of a civil war? Why do partial democracies have a higher risk of civil war than either democracies or autocracies? What is the low price for an AK-47 in Africa? (What is an AK-47?) Why is this significant in understanding civil war scope and duration? What geographic factors are associated with the viability of rebel movements? Who typically funds rebel movements? What is the ONE competitive advantage of rebels? How do they turn it to their economic advantage? Sketch a box and arrow diagram with feedback loops of the “conflict trap” and include in it, poverty, civil wars, military spending, outmigration of skilled workforce, resource dependency, lack of foreign investment, democratic
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