Introduction
The post-cold war period, has witnessed the modification of old concepts of intra-state war as
some analysts argue that something new is evident. The argument is that internal violent
conflicts have been transformed. Categories such as new wars, new internal conflict,
degenerate or post-modern wars, network wars have been used to characterise this
transformation.1 The characterisation has ignited counter-arguments on whether there is anything
new in new wars. The essay argues that, essentially there is nothing novel in the so-called new
wars. What have changed are the explanatory and interpretative lenses and that, the wars are
taking place in an era of globalization inevitably exploiting its possibilities and potential.
Characterisation of New Wars
New wars have been contrasted from old wars in three main ways: the goals, methods of warfare
and financing.2 In terms of goals, they have been characterised as lacking ideological and geopolitical goals and are based on exclusivist identity-based claims to entitlements.3 Other goals
are: loot seeking rather than justice seeking4; and strategically creating of anarchy to make
economic predation possible.5 On method of warfare, these wars blur the line between civilians
and combatants, with extreme atrocities committed against the civilians as a goal in itself. 6 Also
instead of adopting the traditional mode of winning the hearts and minds, they rely on fear and
1
On new wars see, M. Kaldor, New and Old Wars: Organized Violence in Global Era (2nd ed). Cambridge: Polity
Press, 2006, pp.1-12. On New Internal Conflict, see, D. Snow, National Security for a New Era: Globalization and
Geo-Politics. San Francisco: Pearson Education Inc, 2004, pp.262-266. On Network Wars, see M. Duffield, Wars
as a Network enterprise: The New Security Terrain and its implications, Cultural Values, vol 6, NOs 1 and 2, 2002,
pp.53 -165.
2
M. Kaldor, New and Old Wars, Ibid, pp.8-11
3
M. Kaldor, Old and New Wars, Ibid, p.8
4
K. Ballentine et al, The Political Economy of Civil War and Conflict Transformation, 2005, http: www.Berghofhandbook.net.
5
D. M. Snow, National Security for a New Era, Op cit, p.264.
6
See, M. Kaldor, New and Old Wars, Op cit, p.2. Also D. M. Snow, National Security for a New Era, Op cit, p.262;
R. D. Kaplan, The Coming Anarchy: How Scarcity, Crime, Overpopulation, Tribalism and Diseases are Rapidly
Destroying the Social Fabric of our Planet, Atlantic Monthly, Feb, 1994, 273(2), p.26
hatreds of others to mobilize support. In extreme, ethnic cleansing, politicide and genocide
strategies are used.7
The third difference is based on their financing. In old wars, financing usually came from third
state(s) and the population actively engaged in war effort. The situation is different in new
wars. Rather than extracting resource from the population in a contractual way, they are
financed through, plunder, illegal trade in arms, drugs or valuable commodities, human
trafficking, taxation of humanitarian assistance and remittances from sympathetic diasporas8 The
mode of financing means that the logic of violence is inbuilt, for actors can only sustain
themselves in conditions of anarchy.9
These attributes, it is argued have transformed war into something new. Snow observes that, they
are new in the sense of the disorderliness, and apparent senselessness of the suffering being
exacted against civilian populations.10 For Kaldor, war and crime have become
indistinguishable.11 To some economists wars are motivated by greed rather than grievances.12
On the surface, the new war thesis seems novel but upon critical scrutiny, its building blocks
cannot hold. The following section brings out both epistemological and ontological shortcomings
with an aim of showing that, much of claims made by the analysts on new wars do not reflect
anything new.
See Ibid.
See M. Kaldor, Old and New Wars, Op cit, p.9; C. Allen, Warfare, Endemic Violence and State Collapse in
Africa, Review of African Political Economy, vol 26, No 81, 1999, p.371
9
See R. Jackson, Violent Internal Conflict and the African state: Towards a Framework of Analysis, Journal of
Contemporary African Studies, 20, 1, 2002, p.37; Also K. Ballentine et al, The Political Economy of Civil Wars, Op
cit, p.2.
10
D. M. Snow, National Security for a New Era, Op cit, p.62.
11
M. Kaldor, Old and New Wars, Op cit, p.ix.
12
For instance see Berdal, Mats & Keen, David, Economic Agendas in Civil Wars, Millennium, 26, no. 3, 1997:
pp.795-818, Also see P. Collier, & A. Hoeffler, Justice-Seeking and Loot Seeking in Civil War, World Bank
Paper, 17 February 1999
8
theoretical construct, belongs to this category.18 As Kalyvas argues such theories flow from the
view of old civil wars as limited, disciplined or understandable. The view is mythical and
unsupported by empirical evidence.19It reflects an effort to prove a priori theory rather than
critical interpretation.
The proponents, who pay attention to empirical inquiry, have a tendency of overextending their
conclusions. Theorists of greed thesis are in this category.
22
18
24
over time.28 Hall et al, shows that, the cold war period internal wars had more civilian casualties
than the post-cold war ones.29 Haarf, along similar line shows that, genocide and politicide has
actually decreased since the end of cold war.30 As such, the claim is a product of misplaced
historicity.
More so, the argument that human rights violations are an end in themselves is highly debatable.
Kalyvas notes that, the so called unwarranted violence has a strategic objective, a point missed
by observers who uses the wrong lens.31 Richards has shown that, in Sierra Leone, chopping of
hands and fingers by the Revolutionary United Front had simple strategic objective. 32
The final differentiation regards their financing. The mode of financing has blurred the line
between wars and organised crimes, and brought in other actors such as criminal networks and
corporate entrepreneurs. However this financing reflects the possibilities and potentials offered
by weakly regulated globalisation as well as adaptation by actors after the cold war, patronage
ended.33
Does the mode of financing make these self-provisioning wars new? The answer is partly yes
and no. Yes because, it creates war economy logic, whereby benefiting actors, prefer continued
war to peace, and at times the original objectives of the war are lost. However, the fact that these
wars are amenable to political solutions indicates that they still retain political objectives and are
not naked predations. On the other hand, that wars are self-financing does not make them new.
Rather it reflects the general trend of globalization which has led to networks of illicit economic
28
Cited in E. Melander et al, The New Wars Debate Revisisted: An Empirical Evaluation of the Atrociousness of
New wars. Uppsala: Uppsala Peace Research Paper, No 9, p.19.
29
Cited, Ibid, p.17
30
Cited, Ibid, p.17
31
S. N. Kalyvas, New and Old Wars, Op cit, pp.115-116
32
See Y. Bangura, Understanding the Political and Cultural Dynamics of the Sierra Leone War: A critique of Paul
Richards fighting for the Rain Forests, African Development, XXII, 3\4, p.117-148
33
M. Duffield, Wars as a Network Enterprises, Op cit, p.156
transactions beyond the control of the state. Importantly looting is a recurrent element of civil
wars including the most ideological ones.34
Conclusion
The arguments advanced in the essay shows that new wars proponents are merely trying to
reinvent the wheel. Evidence indicates that almost all the characterization of new wars are
present in old wars hence new wars is a mischaracterization. The only thing that has changed
is how these wars are financed. Despite this, internal wars are complex phenomena and change
in their financing cannot be used as a marker of something new. Rather, it is a form of innovation
in absence of patrons willing to finance them.
34
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