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Under Which Circumstances Are Intra-State Conflicts Driven By Resource Curse?

Medic, Natalie LU and Mukiele Bwana, Serge LU (2011) STVA21 20111
Department of Political Science
Abstract
We predictably believe that immense natural resources would generate large revenues and wealth within a country. Nevertheless, a lot of evidences show the contrary. Empirical studies find that resource abundance, economic collapse, civil wars, and political instability are well correlated. This indeed creates a complex puzzle as to why natural blessing has not always brought wealth in most resource-rich countries. Instead, it appears to be a curse.
This paper challenges the prevailing understanding of natural resources as a precursor of armed conflict and an obstacle to peace and political stability. This is achieved through a comparative case study between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ghana, testing resource curse theory from... (More)
We predictably believe that immense natural resources would generate large revenues and wealth within a country. Nevertheless, a lot of evidences show the contrary. Empirical studies find that resource abundance, economic collapse, civil wars, and political instability are well correlated. This indeed creates a complex puzzle as to why natural blessing has not always brought wealth in most resource-rich countries. Instead, it appears to be a curse.
This paper challenges the prevailing understanding of natural resources as a precursor of armed conflict and an obstacle to peace and political stability. This is achieved through a comparative case study between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ghana, testing resource curse theory from Paul Collier and Philippe Le Billon’s hypothesis. We come to find that resource curse leads to intra-state conflicts under certain circumstances, basically the colonial influence, geographic characteristics of the country, the stability in its governance, and its relationship with neighboring countries and in the international panel in general. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Medic, Natalie LU and Mukiele Bwana, Serge LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
A closer look on the abundance of resources in the DRC and Ghana
course
STVA21 20111
year
type
L2 - 2nd term paper (old degree order)
subject
keywords
Resource curse, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana
language
English
additional info
We give great thanks to Lena Scherman, for the interview 2011-05-04.
id
1967418
date added to LUP
2011-06-20 11:08:40
date last changed
2011-06-20 11:08:40
@misc{1967418,
  abstract     = {{We predictably believe that immense natural resources would generate large revenues and wealth within a country. Nevertheless, a lot of evidences show the contrary. Empirical studies find that resource abundance, economic collapse, civil wars, and political instability are well correlated. This indeed creates a complex puzzle as to why natural blessing has not always brought wealth in most resource-rich countries. Instead, it appears to be a curse.
This paper challenges the prevailing understanding of natural resources as a precursor of armed conflict and an obstacle to peace and political stability. This is achieved through a comparative case study between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ghana, testing resource curse theory from Paul Collier and Philippe Le Billon’s hypothesis. We come to find that resource curse leads to intra-state conflicts under certain circumstances, basically the colonial influence, geographic characteristics of the country, the stability in its governance, and its relationship with neighboring countries and in the international panel in general.}},
  author       = {{Medic, Natalie and Mukiele Bwana, Serge}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Under Which Circumstances Are Intra-State Conflicts Driven By Resource Curse?}},
  year         = {{2011}},
}