Premium
Buying peace or fuelling war: the role of corruption in armed conflicts
Author(s) -
Le Billon Philippe
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of international development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.533
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1099-1328
pISSN - 0954-1748
DOI - 10.1002/jid.993
Subject(s) - sanctions , language change , incentive , politics , political economy , competition (biology) , revenue , economics , economic sanctions , political science , development economics , market economy , law , finance , art , ecology , literature , biology
Although corruption may have a corrosive effect on economies and rule‐based institutions, it also forms part of the fabric of social and political relationships. This endogenous character means that conflict may be engendered more by changes in the pattern of corruption than by the existence of corruption itself. Such changes, frequently associated with domestic or external shocks, can lead to armed conflict as increasingly violent forms of competitive corruption between factions ‘fuel war’ by rewarding belligerents. Controversially, ‘buying‐off’ belligerents can facilitate a transition to peace; but ‘sticks’ such as economic sanctions, rather than ‘carrots’, have dominated international conflict resolution instruments. While ‘buying peace’ can present a short‐term solution, the key challenge for peace‐building initiatives and fiscal reforms is to shift individual incentives and rewards away from the competition for immediate corrupt gains. This may be facilitated by placing public revenues under international supervision during peace processes. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.