Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

5-2009

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Political Science

Major Professor

Anthony Nownes

Abstract

This study answers the research question: what factors determine the onset and duration of civil wars involving natural resources? This case study analysis uses determinants extracted from several quantitative studies to examine the role of natural resources in civil war. This study compares resource politics in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Botswana from independence to the early 2000s. The Congo officially became embroiled in a civil war in 1996 and then in 1998. During this same period another resource-rich country, Botswana was able to parlay resource abundance into positive development indicators. However, Botswana's political and economic weaknesses help exclude some of the factors commonly associated with the role of resources in civil war. For example, Botswana depended heavily upon resource exports. It also failed to develop sectors outside of the mining sector. In addition, it was a de facto single-party country.Still, Botswana remained peaceful. Scholars believe that at the end of the Cold War rebels had to seek their own funding sources since superpower assistance was no longer available. This discourse suggests that we can understand more about rebel mobilization since the story is no longer clouded by Cold War politics. The findings in this study suggest that the discourse has not moved as rapidly as previously thought. The discourse is now in its second generation. The first generation was characterized by economic explanations (as a departure from a history of political explanations). The second generation has come full circle, back to political explanations. Despite these developments, a number of operationalization problems inhibit a clear understanding of causality. This study recommends new approaches to understanding the role of resources in conflicts. Currently, scholars over-determine the role of natural resources in civil war.For example, a set of unique historical circumstances merged to create the conditions for civil wars in the Congo in 1996 and 1998. The distinctions between resource conflicts and conflicts caused by other political reasons are not clear in some of the quantitative studies.

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