Wars of Plunder

From Iraq and Angola to Liberia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, resource-rich countries with high incidences of poverty are prone to devastating outbreaks of war. These conflicts are highly idiosyncratic, and the response of the international community to their occurrences is fascinatingly complex. Philippe Le Billon traces the specific burden of owning the world’s most precious resources and the effects of resource politics on the development of war. He focuses on three key resources—-oil, diamonds, and timber—-and the circumstances linking their abundance to war. He discusses the role of resource revenue in financing belligerent forces, a trend that has grown more conspicuous with the withdrawal of Cold War foreign sponsorship. Le Billon also takes a frank look at international reactions toward such conflicts and their possible underlying motives. While the “War on Terror” has altered the terms of military assistance and the nature of war’s internationalization, many belligerent actors continue to rely on the profits of “conflict resources” to survive. Le Billon examines this exploitation of resources and its creation of unrest.