Do New Wars Pose Difficult Challenges Politics Essay

Do New fights Pose Difficult Ch alone t senescentenges Politics Essay courteous deals in todays red-brick world eat bring into being increasingly set forth as hot warfargons ever since the end of the C ov timege war epoch callable to a perceived change in the format of war and the emergence of war economies as central to cozy skirmishes. Some scholars ease up this evolution in warf ar and intra differentiate b bug out requires adjustments and changes to the brandmark encounter reconstruction surgery due to progressd challenges hot wars creates in parity to the disused wars of the preceding(a). This screen presents that there is in occurrence little evolution in warf be since the end of the Cold war and in event many of the flakeistics of the so-cal guide in the raw wars are in fact present in skirmishs in the past. It is for this reason that brightly wars do not fuck off more difficult challenges any more than the already complicated problems as sociated with chain armour action reconstruction although some changes are necessary to adjust the grad of development, it is in fact the growth and advancement of media and the communications sectors that brace led to an increased focus on civilian wars that has pushed them into the public arena and apt(p) them a naked status. The first part of this essay entrust crush the current wars thesis posited by Kaldor and outline the characteristics attri furthered to natural wars this will be followed by the convincing criticisms by many faculty members that argue raw wars are not in fact smart and assists the final section of the essay that discusses the spatial relation encounter reconstruction fulfill and argues contemporaneous participation does not post a more difficult challenge to the post conflict reconstruction butt on anymore than old wars do.The concept of cutting wars was first written virtually in detail by Mary Kaldor at the end of the mid-nineties, as she attempted to define the characteristics of low-intensity conflicts and distinguish them from traditional read versus assert conflicts of the past. Kaldor argues that towards the end of the 20th Century, in particular in the post-Cold War hunting lodge, a unused form of organized vehemence has emerged, with blurred distinctions in the midst of war, organized detestation and large-scale human rights violations (2006, pp.1-2). This thesis has incremented considerable academic hold up as scholars notice the trend in the decrease of inter farming eminentway wars and the increase in force out within renders (Holsti, 1996, p.40). New wars are characte establishd as bend, depoliticized, private and even predatory in their temper, whilst the old wars of the past were ideological, governmental and noble (Kalyvas, 2006, p.100). Kaldor thus believes there has been a progression in the nature of warfare and conflict since the Cold War as versed conflicts execute the norm a nd interstate battles become far less plebeian. Kaldor argues that New wars terminate be contrasted with earlier wars in terms of their goals, the methods of warfare and how they are financed (2006, p.7) these differences will be outline in the avocation section to explain the stark naked features of new wars.The goals of new wars are based on individuation politics, oddly ethnic identity, rather than ideological differences or geo-political ambitions, and oftentimes occur due to the erosion of state autonomy and state chastening (Kaldor, 2006, pp.5-7). Groups will ask delay of the state or authentic areas of the state in the diagnose of ethnicity, religion or tribe (Kaldor, 2005, p.212). The Bosnian conflict during the 1990s is often depicted as the archetypal example of a new war as it displays this identity conflict clearly (Kaldor, 2006, p.33). Due to its ethnic renewal of Muslims, Serbs and Croats (as hygienic as several other(a) ethnic identities), it was no affect that conflict arose amid the groupings as the Bosnian Serbs and Bosnian Croats set about ethnic cleansing in an attempt to establish ethnically homogenized territories (Kaldor, 2006, pp.34-5). Furthermore, the attrition of state power means the monopoly over violence is poorly limited, which leads to widespread skirmishes and conflicts as groups compete to fill the vacuum created through state collapse (Newman, 2004, p.175). The warring parties in the Bosnian war described themselves as states and make use of the former state apparatus in order to finance, resource and run their campaigns (Kaldor, 2005, p.214). Globalisation has resulted in a cleavage between rich and poor that results in conflict and structural violence (Berdal, 2003, p.479) and likewise a cleavage between cosmopolitanism and the politics of particularist identities (Kaldor, 2006, p.7). There is a evolution them and us divide as identity politics play a more dominant role in how individuals see themsel ves to each other. This of air increases the inevitability and the probability of conflict among groups of differing identitiesThe form of combat has besides changed as guerrilla and counter-insurgency tactical manoeuvre become the norm (Kaldor, 2006, p.8), as the nature of conflict adapts a distinctively politically chaotic and military atrocious character (S flat, 1996, p.105). In the past, guerrilla warfare has aimed to baffle hearts and minds of noncombatants and the population however, the new warfare uses counterinsurgency methods of destabilisation, aiming to create fear and hatred amongst civilians instead, using this to gain support or at least oppose citizens from disobeying orders (Kalyvas, 2001, p.109). New wars progress to lack military order or discipline (Angstrom, 2005, p.8) which often leads to extreme point violence and barbarism, directed in particular at civilians as a deliberate strategy (Mello, 2010, p.299). This strategy of civilian targeting rests in t he aim to control populations, inducing destabilization and terror in an attempt to remove those of a different identity through violent and barbaric killings as well as techniques of intimidation (Kaldor, 2006, p.9). The genocide in Rwanda or the random atrocities perpetrate against civilians in Sarajevo highlight this dark side of new war (Snow, 1996, p.105), and in situations such as Bosnia, Somalia, Rwanda and Liberia, the military objective was the systematic murder and terrorizing of civilian populations (Snow, 1996, p.ix). Civilian casualties and forced displacement has increased in proportion to all causalities in conflict since the 1990s, highlighting this deliberative civilian targeting, further help by a blurring of boundaries between civilians and combatants as public power breaks stack as part of state failure (Newman, 2004, p.175).The final feature that distinguishes new wars from old wars is the form of financial support that occurs war economies of the past focu sed on using resources to defeat the enemy (Broodryk, 2010, p.11), whilst the new wars utilise looting, criminal communicates, diasporic support and taxation of humanitarian aid to provide resources for their conflict (Kaldor, 2005, p.216). The simplest form of financing the war effort is through looting, robbery, extortion and hostage-taking and is seen in a human activity of contemporaneous wars (Kaldor, 2006, p.108). However, some war economies utilisenetworks of legal and guilty trade, ordnance and do drugs trafficking, corrupt governments and supportive diasporas that warp the outbreak and perpetuation of violent conflicts (Mello, 2010, p.300).The new war economies involve the fragmentation of the state as it foundationnot monopolise take and employment in order to fund their war cause (Broodryk, 2010, p.11). Resources are instead traded outside of the country to private companies lacking any hobby in the conflict, only aiming to profit on the internal disruption (Broo dryk, 2010, p.11). Kofi Annan highlights the stinting struggle as central to internal conflictsThe pursuit of diamonds, drugs, timber, concessions and other expensive commodities drives todays internal wars. In some countries the capacity of the State to extract resources from friendship and to allocate patronage is the prize to be fought over (Annan, 1999, emphasis in original).This creates a globalized war economy in which rivalry between criminal groups occurs over resources or illegal commercial activities (Newman, 2004, p.176). The process of resource pay off thus means there is no real desire of victory as groups aim to maintain resource profitability and the power they capture (Newman, 2004, p.176) the state of war is preferred to peace as it provides a plow for illegal economic activities by warlords and non-state actors (Melander et al., 2009, p.511)However, there are a play of academics that criticise Kaldors new wars thesis, arguing that many of the new features of new wars can be found in earlier wars, and that the differences between old and new wars are not as dichotomous as make out and are often exaggerated (Newman, 2004, p.173 Mello, 2010, p.305). This essay agrees with this to an extent a number of the features of new wars that Kaldor outlines in her argument are as well present in wars of the past and suggest there is little new about modern warfare in internal conflict situations, as will be outlined in the following section. In terms of empirical narrate for new wars, Newman accepts that civil war have been more frequent than interstate war, but argues that both forms of conflict have decreased since the mid-1990s, with the exception of a spike in intrastate conflict in the early 1990s (2004, p.180). This, as Newman believes, shows there has not been an evolution of new wars in the post-Cold War period, and infact, the probability of country being in conflict is not kindred to that at the end of the 1950s (Newman, 2004, p.180). In addition, Melander et al. argue battle austereness (the number of deaths in battle) has declined in the post-Cold War era, whilst violence against civilians in civil conflict has as well as decreased (2009, p.507).Kalyvas explores the features of the new war convention, contrasting them to those of old wars, and concludes there are probably more similarities than differences, and that the new wars thesis is flaw in a number of ways. Firstly, he takes the argument that ideological concerns were the motivations of old wars, claiming that in fact, many wars in the past have involved high levels of looting (such as the Russian and Chinese Revolutions) and that many combatants very made decisions to fight based on local considerations (Kalyvas, 2001, pp.106-7). Many soldiers are unremarkably stimulated due to group pressures such as comradeship, respect and network ties such as family or friendship ties (Kalyvas, 2001, p.108). This can be seen in Irish Revolution and Civil War, where often the ideology at the focalise of the war was rarely discussed amongst combatants and the conflict was based instead on family factions and old feuds (Hart, 1999, pp.264-266). Moreover, the characterization of new wars as lacking any ideological figurehead can be challenged many resist forces of contemporary civil wars have been stigmatised as missing any ideological motivations for combat, but in fact many hold an in-depth understanding of their own participation from a political panorama, as shown in Sierra Leone (Kalyvas, 2001, p.104).The portrayal of contemporary warfare lively through a move from chivalrous fighting to that of barbarity by militia and warlords is unfounded (Newman, 2004, p.181) the use of gratuitous violence can be found in old civil wars such in America, Russia and Spain, whilst the reading of child abduction to create child soldiers may be associated with contemporary Africa, but was common in conflicts in Afghanistan (during the Soviet invas ion), Peru, Guatemala and the China (Kalyvas, 2001, pp.114-5). The horrific violence and barbarism portrayed in Kaldors new war thesis is also visible in past wars the deliberate targeting of civilians can be seen in the Mexican Revolution at the start of the 20th Century, whilst World War II represents perhaps the most widespread cases of atrocities in the form of the Holocaust, the German advance into the Soviet Union (with huge civilian displacement) and the Russian advance on Berlin (with numerous cases of rape or sexual brutality) (Newman, 2004, pp.182-3). It is for this reason that Madame de Stal remarks that all civil wars are more of less similar in their atrocity, in the upheaval in which they throw men and in the influence they give to violent and tyrannical passions (cited in Kalyvas, 2001, pp.114-5). It is also possible to argue that modern intrastate conflicts do not utilise senseless violence, and that actually the portrayal of violence is defined by culture those in the western hemisphere find the use machete as more barbaric than crowd together killings through bombings (Kalyvas, 2001, p.115) who is it to say which is the more atrocious and inhumane? Furthermore, Kaldor contends the violence rebel and militia movements use is not as gratuitous as made out, and in fact it is often strategic and selective Kalyvas argues the Algeria massacres, or the tactics used by RENAMO in Mozambique were part of larger strategies, whilst the forced amputation of womens turn over in Sierra Leone can be seen as calculated to insert fear (2001, pp.115-6). This is not to deny the acts as barbaric, but it certainly weakens the depiction of the violence as undisciplined and random.A case study that suggests new wars are not in fact new can be found in the Congo civil war during the 1960s Newman argues this conflict closely follows the new wars model and identifies with several characteristics of Kaldors thesis (2004, p.184). The conflict arose aft(prenominal) Belgium withdrew from Congo in June 1960, resulting in a political crisis as the centralized government broke down and ail erupted. The Katanga province, rich in minerals, declared independence from the Congolese state later on receiving support from the Belgian minelaying companies who were protecting their interests and promoting secession in the hazardground (Newman, 2004, p.184). Conflict and struggles against the new leaders of the Republic of Congo was motivated primarily by material aggrandizement, particularly amongst militias and private mercenaries at the same time, ethnic and religious differences stimulated the violence further, with some fighting orientated around clear political agendas (such as the unitary state against Katangan secession), whilst most fighting revolved around the interests of warlords and local factions (Newman, 2004, p.184). State failure and the breakdown of authority led to social disorder and the emergence of a war economy as mercenaries a ttempted to uphold conflict due to the benefits they gained not only from their employers but also from illegal activities such as arms sales (Newman, 2004, p.184). This case study so highlights the presence of new war features during the Cold War period, with state failure and collapse leading to social disorder and conflicting identity groups competing for resources. This suggests that new wars are in fact not new but have always been present it is instead the emergence from the Cold War era that entirely brought these conflicts to the fore and the expansion of media and communications that has led to the reporting of the internal disputes around the globe.The essay will now turn to the question of whether new wars pose more difficult challenges to postconflict reconstruction, and whether new approaches to state rebuilding subsequently internal civil war are required. Although the essay has argued throughout that new wars are not completely new, it has also noted that some cha racteristics of contemporary intrastate conflict have evolved from those of the past, and there have been some changed in the forms of conflict. It is for these reasons that the post conflict reconstruction process must make a few adaptations in order to assist a states recovery afterward civil war. As Newman outlines, evolution and advancement in historical, technological and social-economic terms have meant the nature of conflict has also changed (2004, p.185), and therefore the reconstruction process will face some new challenges. In many post-conflict nations, the levels of crime and human rights abuses remain high as warlords and militia remain at large, making use of their illegal economies created through civil war the are weaknesses in the reconstruction process that mean identity politics and the new wars rebuilding programmes are not tackled head on (Kaldor, 2006, p.x).At a basic level, post conflict reconstruction must address a wide and complex range of challenges in states ravaged by internal conflict the observeion of future armed conflict, the rebuilding of effective state institutions, recreation of a social fabric, redressing of human rights abuses and the nursing of a wellness civil society are all central to the reconstruction process (Call Cook, 2003, p.135). The prevention of further armed conflict is particularly important in the case of new wars as it is essential to discourage warlords, militia and other forces from restarting and perpetuating conflict in order to sustain the resource capture that is common in contemporary warfare. This therefore means the war economy that existed during the conflict must be replaced by an effective state economy that has a monopoly of the nations resources and can prevent resource competition from accumulating and resulting in a fresh break out of conflict. Furthermore, the prevention of future conflict is not simply a matter of removing arms access and taking guns from the combatants, but it is also the boldness of accountably, transparent, and participatory systems of authority (Call Cook, 2003, p.135). In the aftermath of a new war, it is essential for restructuring forces to quickly create a form of state authority that is accountable to the people and is capable of solving the grievances of those involved in the conflict.Kaldor stresses the splendour for reconstruction to primarily involve the restructuring of political authorities and civil society, in the forms of law and order and the mobilisation of political groups (2006, p.145). The integration of all identities is also essential in order to remove the binary them and us wave-particle duality than can threaten to reignite ethnic or religious differences and disputes. The establishment of law and order requires disarmament, demobilisation, policing or training police forces, arresting of war criminals and the re-establishment of the justice system (Kaldor, 2006, p.146). However, it is not that simple disarmamen t through buy-back programmes results in the handing back of average or poor weaponry whilst the high-tech arms are held onto (Kaldor, 2006, p.146). Furthermore, as new wars are essentially a gang of war and criminality, law enforcement must involve both soldiers and police in order to provide adequate security and authority. Infrastructure such as basic services, transport and production desires to be restored at both regional and local levels in order to re-establish the economy and reduce the need to humanitarian aid (Kaldor, 2006, p.147). Humanitarian care also needs to become more targeted in order to remove war economies and their siphoning of aid, and also to prevent over-reliance on aid that means the economy cannot be rebuilt. For instance, in Somalia, regimen provisions were high and numerous in an attempt to ensure all of those in need actually received the aid however, this meant food prices in the state fell, creating an environment where it was no longer economical ly viable for farmers to say food (Kaldor, 2006, p.144). Another example of aid problems can be seen in El Salvador here, and IMF stabilisation programme attempted to provide monetary assistance for the country to reconstruct. However, the strict spending limits of the IMF provisions meant the state could not concede to build a civil police force and enact buy-back schemes for disarmament that was required by the peace programme to help reintegrate combatants back into society (Kaldor, 2006, p.143). In this instance, therefore, humanitarian assistance in post conflict reconstruction needs to become more targeted and utilise local companionship for it to be effective at rebuilding after a new war.This essay has only touched on the surface of the reconstruction process after a new war, providing a basic outline of state rebuilding. However, it explains the need to adapt certain procedures uses in reconstruction of the state after a new war the need to retarget and develop aid prov ision, the splendour of establishing effective authoritarian institutions to enforce security and peace, and the importance of reconstructing state structures that change grievances to be addressed, civil society to be rebuilt, war economies removed, and the implementation of policies to prevent future state failure and conflict.To conclude then, this essay points to the need for perspective when approaching new wars and post conflict reconstruction each struggle will need its own unique form of reconstruction, and therefore the post conflict rebuilding process is a case-by-case thesis, with no funny set of reformation practices or factors and the presence or lack of certain factors associated with new wars is down to the unique contexts and mitigations of specific conflicts rather than linear historical changes (Newman, 2004, p.180). There has indeed been a decrease in state vs. state conflict commonly associated with the past, whilst globalisation, decolonisation and the follo wing state building, and the resurgence of identity politics have all suggested a shift from warfare of the past and therefore the need to adjust reconstruction policies (Newman, 2004, p.180), and indeed some changes are required. However, it is perhaps more appropriate to highlight the rise and expansion of the media and communications as an explanation for the perceived changes in conflict many of the factors Kaldor outlines in her thesis are not in fact new and have been present in past skirmishes it is simply the prominence and attention these conflicts now receive from the media that has resulted in changes of perceptions and ideas of civil wars (Newman, 2004, p.179). The first section of this essay outlined the basis of Kaldors New Wars argument and the factors attributed to contemporary civil war following this, the essay provided and agreed with the criticisms of the new wars thesis, highlighting the fact than many of the characteristics of new wars are not as new as Kaldo r makes out. Finally, the essay contended that contemporary wars do not provide many more difficult challenges for post conflict reconstruction in comparison to old wars, rather dainty adjustments must be made in order to account for the rise of globalisation and the modern world.