Shadow Globalization, Ethnic Conflicts and New Wars: A Political Economy of Intra-state War (The New International Relations)

Focusing on the political economy of so-called new wars, this book presents a series of studies that analyse the complexities of current warfare by moving from the global sphere to local spots of organised violence. It thus raises questions about the very idea of intra-state wars and shows that these wars are inseparably linked to the global economy and the world political order. In this way, this study also offes a unique contribution to understanding the post-September 11 world. This will be topical and controversial reading for students and scholars of international relations and international political economy, as well as experts in foreign policy, peace and conflict studies. "This book addresses questions about the interrelation of armed conflict, international economic flows and organized crime in the post-Cold War era. Where many books exploring current warfare do so in terms of identity and ethnicity, this book looks at the economic sides of these intra-state wars. In contrast to the public image of so-called intra-state wars, this book reveals a complex interplay between global, regional and local forces that are behind ethnic conflicts and civil wars. In this way, it is also a unique contribution to understanding the post-September 11 world." "Subdivided in three parts, the book leads from more general inquiries to particular case studies, at the same time maintaining a view that tries to bridge the global, regional and local divides. The first part of the book takes up several prominent theoretical perspectives about the relationship between war and state-making. The second part examines how international policies of peacemaking and peace-enforcement are reflected in the local realities of Bosnia and northern Iraq. Together with the cases studies in the third part - Lebanon, the former Yugoslavia, and Somalia, these essays underline that policy schemes of reconstruction and punishment, which are implemented by international powers in order to foster the establishment of market structures and democracy, can lead to the opposite of what they pretend. Mafia-style economies, warlordism and protracted internal warfare are often the unintended outcome of international interventions."--Jacket "Shadow Globalization, Ethnic Conflict and New Wars" looks at the interrelation of armed conflict, international economic flows and organized crime in the post-Cold War era. The focus on the political economy of contemporary war gives this book an original take on ethnic conflict that so far has almost exclusively been analysed through the lens of identity formation. Focusing on the political economy of a variety of contemporary intra-state wars, the authors question several of the widely held theoretical perspectives about the relationship between war and state-making. Their ideas are examined in relation to a wide range of case studies in the war on drugs, the mafia statelets emerging in the Balkans, the Kurds in Iraq and the Lebanese and Somali civil wars. Putting the focus on the political economy of so-called new wars, the book presents a series of studies that analyse the complexities of current warfare by zooming in from the global sphere to local spots of organized violence. So it raises questions about the very idea of intra-state wars and shows that these wars are inseparably linked to the global economy and the world political order Introduction: towards global civil war? Theories of war-making and state-making under global constraints A political economy of intra-state war: confronting a paradox State formation and the economy of intra-state wars Policies of reconstruction and punishment Protectorates and spoils of peace: political economy in south-east Europe Suspended reality: historical perspectives on the political economy of northern Iraq The War on Drugs in the creation of the new world (dis)order Cases of war economies Profiting from war: economic rationality and war in Lebanon Between ethnic collision and mafia collusion: the "Balkan route" to state-making Assisting structures of violence? Humanitarian assistance in the Somali conflict Conclusions: the political economy of war-making and state-making in a globalizing world. Analyses the complexities of current warfare by zooming in from the global sphere to local spots of organised violence. Raises questions about the idea of intra-state wars and shows that these wars are inseparably linked to the global economy Edited By Dietrich Jung. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.