215-violence

Ch 13 Violence as Politics

General Triggers of Violence

dissatisfaction, unmet expectations
cleavages, differentiation (note idea of "unequal development" can intensify differentiation)
relative deprivation, aspiration gap, revolution of rising expectations
in a power vacuum, there is a struggle to gain power, or to block others

power vacuum: long-term dictator dies or is overthrown
lack of institutions for peaceful change

dictator has prevented emergence of secondary leaders, political parties
no history or culture of negotiation, compromise

Examples:

Iraq after US invasion
Palestine, after death of Yassar Arafat (PLO/Fatah vs. Hamas)
Haiti

Forms of Violence

guerrilla (small war), start a base area
terrorism -- attack civilians to terrorize them, show weakness of governments (cheap, weapon of the weak and poor)
state terrorism -- domestic and in other countries to annoy, weaken them
women, children always victims
children are often forced to be fighters Global Is | AI | BBC | world vision | child soldiers

Context of Violence

Interstate Border wars

Kashmir, Iran-Iraq, Ethiopia-Somalia/Eritrea, Peru Equador
borders uncertain from colonial past
threat to sate legitimacy

secession-- cultural, religious autonomy, keep economic resources

Biafra (of Nigeria), Tamil area of Sri Lanka, E. Timor, Aceh (of Indonesia), Punjab, Chechnya
Iraq (Oil)

Expulsion/Ethnic cleansing, mass murder, Genocide

Rwanda, Frontline: Triumph of Evil (in Rwanda) - W. Sudan, Darfur (genocide) - Bosnia
Cambodia killing fields, 1975-79 (1.7 million killed 1 | 2 |
web page on ethnic conflict

Class conflict between landowers and rural poor (tenants, landless laborers)

sometimes both sides are armed and violent
both can extort international corporations (eg. Chiquita in Colombia)

Conflict for natural resources --

farm land, migrants from poorer areas want land elsewhere nepal
land takeovers by wealthy farmers, ranchers, businessmen, eg: Brazil Mexico
livestock / fixed agriculture
curse of wealth" - NYT other writers: William Easterly, Melissa Thomas (U. Md) , Scott Pegg (Indiana University) Terry Lynn Karl (Stanford), Michael Ross (UCLA)

petroleum "The petro-state" (Nigeria, Venezuela, Iraq, Mid-East, Russia?)

"In oil-rich [countries], rulers tax oil companies, and can ignore and abuse their poeple with impunity." Poisoned Wells: The Dirty Politics of African Oil
petroleum revenue funds political patronage system

diamonds in Africa (article in the New York Times) -- also in Brazil
international mineral exploitation -- gold mining in Peru

Government takes land from original owneres and gives it to its political supporters, often of another tribal/ethnic group. Original owners fight to reclaim "their" land/houses/resources

Religious Tensions / communal violence

Note: millennial movements have been common historically in many places during periods of great socio-economic change and stress. They can take on a religious dimension

discussion, | heavy academics | major new book
Is this related to religious fundamentalism (Muslim? Hindu? Christian?)
historic and recent examples

India

Hindu Muslim

Ayodah Gujarat 1 | 2 | 3-political-support Kashmir Hyderabad Mosque

Hindu Sikh (Punjab) 1 | 21 years later

Sri Lanka (Sinhalese Tamil - Buddhist Hindu)
Indonesia, Sudan, Philippines (Christian Muslim)
Northern and Southern Nigeria (Christian-Muslim) 1 -

-- Religion is part of "national" identity, linked to language, history
-- Religion can be very rigid, non-negotiable, so religious conflicts can be very hard to solve.
    - Islam has Muslim law, Shariah wiki
                no separation of church and state
                state should implement religious values and laws.
                conversion away from Islam is against shari'a (apostasy) and law
                           a crime punishable by execution Malaysia example
                           separate laws for Muslims, clerics can veto conversion in Malaysia
        In Somalia, chairman of a local Islamic court plans to
                 behead people who do not pray five times
    - Muslim Brotherhood, international political network wiki | fas
            (Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Algeria? Palestine?)
            Key policies

                campaign against social and political injustice
                gain political support of lower classes
                take power (preferably by democratic elections)
                create muslim state, implement muslim law.

Civil War, who should rule? Control over power, resources (oil, drugs, diamonds),

domestic and international aspects overlap and intertwine.

Large scale civil wars in Africa
Liberia (Charles Taylor)
Nigeria, Liberia, Peru (Shining Path), Colombia, Sierra Leone
Chad-Sudan: domestic and international tensions combine.
Nepal classic rural revolution

Election Violence

Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Zanzibar, 2005)
mass demonstrations, violence after stolen elections

Phillipines, 1986
Kenya, 2008 1 |

State repression

of opposition movements (Peru, Algeria, Guatemala, South Africa, Colombia)
general repression (Iraq, Kenya, lots of others)
Secret Police in Arab Countries
Sometimes, portions of the army and intelligence services oppose repression:

Romania -- 1992 - civil war between army and intelligence forces
S Korea -- head of KCIA assassinated President Chung Hee Park (1979)
Ukraine -- intelligence opposed military repression NYT story here

Army violence used domestically more context | graphic model

civil government collapse	civilian government is can't solve problems poverty, inflation corruption soldiers not paid, rebel riots, demonstrations
military government collapse	repression, "disappearances" (check this article about Brazil and Latin Ameria ) corruption demonstrations big repression or deal: step down for amnesty, maybe truth commission

examples:

Nigeria,
Chile (Allende 1 | 2, Pinochet 1 | 2 , movie Missing),
Argentina 1970s (torture, killing by gov't security forces), 2 |

tensions, prevent military comback decades later (June 2006)
amnesty removed, military leader jailed, 2008

Brazil,
Turkey military threatens coup to protect secular state
most countries in 1970s, 80s
Bolivia update , 2005 (street demos, repression) | economic stagnation | Dec 2005 election
El Salvador, 1980s (soldiers kill peasants)
Colombia, 1990s (para-military groups kill poor peasants)

para-military links to govt 1 | 2

Thailand

Sometimes states or companies rely on private police/mercenary companies such as Executive Outcomes 1 | 2

used to protect foreign mines, investments, supress gangsters, warlords
can be involved in coups (both creating and stopping) related links 1 | 2 | 3
examples: Zaire/Congo, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, Sudan, Somalia

Full blown political/social revolutions check here for more discussion

source: mass discontent coupled with weak, de-ligitimated state
can be from above or below
impose new society China, Cambodia, Iran
eventually fade out (Thermidore)
Classic examples: France, Russia, China

Private oganizations working against violence, for peace:

Conciliation Resourses

Sometimes US supported state repression, overthrow, or rebellion via

Direct military invasion
CIA or involvement of various forms
US Army School of the Americas 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
US AID provides funds to help political opponents --