Civil_War__a_Brick_Wall_in_Decolonization

Civil War: A Brick Wall in Decolonization Josh Braakmsa 060472 Major exploitation of third world countries’ resources, such as Sierra Leone’s, is a known fact throughout the world. Large companies usually will make the majority of the profit from sale of these natural resources, with little profit going to the country or origin or the people themselves. But is this the major problem stemming from these companies coming in and exploiting these poorer less developed countries' I believe the answer is no. Civil war has taken place in many countries for over twenty years, and often limits the country from developing economically, politically, and socially. These countries find it hard to move forward in all of these aspects due to fear. Fear that the rebels will attack not only civilians, but also government troops. Before I begin I feel that it is important to discuss some of the facts about diamond trade in Africa. People should not get the misconception that all diamonds that a mined in Africa are illegally mined and termed ‘Blood Diamonds’. There are two main types of diamonds. One type, which is very expensive procedure but often produces large amounts of the precious raw material, is called Kimberlite ‘pipes’. These diamonds are usually found underneath ancient volcanoes. These types of diamond are usually found in Southern Africa where the diamond trade is very beneficial to the host region, and are mined legally. The second kind of diamond is alluvial deposits. These diamonds are often found in river beds and flood plains. These diamonds are easier to retrieve as they require less digging, but are scattered over vast areas where the Kimberlite are often more concentrated. The alluvial deposits are more common in central and western Africa where the majority of the diamond trade is done illegally and involves slaves. It is stated that around 15% of the world’s diamonds are mined this way (Warhurst 2006). It is no coincidence that these central and western countries are the ones with civil war problems, where the southern countries are prospering from diamond sales. It was stated by Collier and Hoeffler (1998, 2004) stated that an abundance of a natural resource may increase the chance of civil war because rebels can loot the resource to finance their war. This makes sense as the rebels would not need to develop any time of activity to generate resources, but instead use the fear they have created to enslave people to mine these diamonds for them. Sierra Leone was one of the areas which were severely impacted by the mining of ‘blood diamonds’. It was said by James Jonah, the countries minister of finance, in 2000 that, “The war in Sierra Leone is simply about diamonds.” (Lujala et. all 2005) Diamonds are considered a resource that is highly probable to be linked to civil war. This is because the alluvial diamonds are relatively easy to extract and can produce a high turnaround when sold. These factors make this resource a much desired resource for rebel groups. Although these types of diamonds require a large workforce to obtain, these areas have a lot of people who are not well off financially, and in most cases will work for cheap wages. Even though this may not be an ideal job, it is one that may be the best case for these people. Also, in many cases people are forced into doing this labor. With the rebel groups turning a large profit on diamonds, they often use this profit to but guns which establish fear and can control the people. If a rebel group walks into a community armed and very dangerous they can take people as slaves to work for them. They often present a lifestyle that may attract young Africans into joining their group. Many humans are driven to advance in life financially. With the extreme poverty in these countries this may be an easy opportunity to achieve this lifestyle even though the people may not agree with this particular practice. Now the main group that many rebel forces are against is the government. With the government often getting a large profit from the sale of diamonds the rebel forces will likely be opposed to this activity. This is considered a reason why the rebel forces clash with government troops and partake in the activities that they do. Ethnic tension can also be a contributing factor to civil war. With the rebel groups often consisting of black Africans they can motivate their group to oppose the large often ‘white’ corporations from profiting from the natural resources found in the homeland. With this tension between the two groups they seem to miss the main goal. If the government is profiting largely from the sale of diamonds won’t this make the country stronger as a whole' It may be hard for the rebel groups to see it this way. Social impacts stemming from this conflict can be very great. Fear is immediately implemented in the minds of the civilians. The rebel groups often have not care to the safety and well being of the local people. The fear of the rebel groups is so strong that people often feel that not even the government can protect them. With this, citizens may loose confidence in their own government which creates an instable environment. Also socially people may think that the safest way to live in this unstable environment would be to join to rebel forces as they may appear to offer more security and also a more profitable option. Rebel groups are said to have 4 needs to maintain a successful rebellion. These include: arms and ammunition, recruits to maintain rebellion, resources to finance the group, and training to improve the fighting abilities of the members (Weinstein 2005). Recruitment of rebels also relies on cementing a case against the government. They need to convince the recruits that what the government is doing is bad for the people and they need to put a stop to this. With this idea implemented in the minds of the recruits, this creates unstable political conditions throughout the population. If you take a look at the specific areas in Africa with unstable conditions one could conclude that they have all four qualities to maintain a successful rebellion. The have an extremely valuable resource in diamonds, a large amount of people to recruit, and with the profits gained from the diamonds they can meet the other two need of ammunition and training. The Kimberley Process is a process that was implemented to hopefully eliminate the sale of so called ‘blood diamonds’ into the market. It states that all diamonds must come from conflict-free zones and be certified. Basically members of the Kimberley Process are legally allowed to buy diamonds only mined in conflict free zones. The hope in this is that, if the major companies only buy conflict-free diamonds the rebel groups mining the alluvial diamonds will not have enough money to fund their civil war. This however is not always totally effective because sometimes the rebel groups will move their diamonds into areas which belong to the Kimberly Process and sell them there. So one might ask, does civil war prohibit a country that has been colonized from becoming independent' Based on my knowledge of colonization I would agree with this. With some of the factors I have stated above, a region with civil war will have a weak political allegiance and poor social unity, it might be easy for a stronger developed country to colonize this particular region. Once this region has become colonized it will become difficult to separate and decolonize as this region may become extremely dependent on the colonizing country. Also due to civil war, this limits a country from proving they can sustain themselves without the help of the colonizing country. Usually such events as electing officials, establishing security, and handling foreign relations can help lead to decolonization but no single act can be responsible for decolonization to take place. So if a region is in the midst of a major and severely dangerous civil war, how are they demonstrating the capabilities to maintain order of their country they want to decolonize' The fact is that if they cannot maintain control of their people, there is no way the leaders will be able to maintain and successfully run a country. So are the illegally mined blood diamonds the cause of a country not being able to decolonize' No, but it is the base of one problem that greatly hinders a countries ability to present a strong case of stable self rule. Presented above, is a paper which I initially thought would deal specifically with blood diamonds. As I researched the topic and began writing, I found a larger underlying problem than just illegally mined diamonds. Recently I watched an episode of the T.V show Lost. In this episode it showed a couple young boys playing soccer in an African village. A rebel group came into the village and started grabbing young boys. They eventually grabbed an elder and a very young boy. The young boy was instructed to shoot the elder man. The boy seemed very scared and hesitant to do this. After a few moments the young boy’s older brother grabbed the gun out his brother’s hands and shot the old man. After this the rebels took this boy as they thought he displayed anger and aggression. I know this is a made up example but yet something similar could have taken place in reality. Upon seeing this I saw an example of what life could be like and what people are often forced to do it war torn countries. The boy did not want to shot the elder but he also did not want his brother to do it. Coincidently the boy who shot the elder became a rebel leader as he was forced into this lifestyle. So looking back was this boy destined to become a rebel fighter as he displayed anger and aggression' Hard believe this is what he wanted and easier to believe this is what he was forced into. This could be how many young Africans are pulled away from their regular lives and into a conflicting rebel group. Because of the desire for a better lifestyle, and little chance to achieve this lifestyle, young Africans are drawn toward this highly controversial yet appealing rebel group. Blood diamonds are not the sole problem prohibiting advancement in these areas, rebel actions against the government are.