Oil and armed conflict in Casanare/Colombia: complex contexts and contingent moments
Pearce, Jenny V.
Pearce, Jenny V.
Publication Date
2007
End of Embargo
Supervisor
Keywords
Rights
Peer-Reviewed
Yes
Open Access status
Accepted for publication
Institution
Department
Awarded
Embargo end date
Collections
Additional title
Abstract
Are oil-rich countries prone to war? And, if so, why? There is a widely held belief that contemporary wars are motivated by the desire of great powers like the United States or Russia to control precious oil resources and to ensure energy security. This book argues that the main reason why oil-rich countries are prone to war is because of the character of their society and economy. Sectarian groups compete for access to oil resources and finance their military adventures through smuggling oil, kidnapping oil executives, or blowing up pipelines. Outside intervention only makes things worse. The use of conventional military force as in Iraq can bring neither stability nor security of supply. This book examines the relationship between oil and war in six different regions: Angola, Azerbaijan, Colombia, Indonesia, Nigeria and Russia. Each country has substantial oil reserves, and has a long history of conflict. The contributors assess what part oil plays in causing, aggravating or mitigating war in each region and how this relation has altered with the changing nature of war. It offers a novel conceptual approach bringing together Kaldor's work on 'new wars' and Karl's work on the petro-state.
Version
No full-text in the repository
Citation
Pearce JV (2007) Oil and armed conflict in Casanare/Colombia: complex contexts and contingent moments. In: Kaldor M, Karl TL and Said Y (Eds) Oil Wars. pp. 225-273. London: Pluto Press.
Link to publisher’s version
Link to published version
Link to Version of Record
Type
Book chapter