Fueling rebellion: maritime piracy and the duration of civil war

UNCW Author/Contributor (non-UNCW co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Anup Phayal (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW )
Web Site: http://library.uncw.edu/

Abstract: Extant research shows that the presence of natural resources can prolong civil wars. But research also indicates that as rebel groups become stronger, conflicts tend to shorten. These studies suggest an unclear association among the three variables—resources, rebel strength, and conflict duration. If resources increase the fighting ability of rebels, then why do they not shorten conflicts? To understand this relationship, we examine incidents of maritime piracy, which unlike other resources are more clearly exploited by rebel groups rather than states and offer new insight on how this might affect the persistence of civil war. The findings suggest that the use of piracy by weaker rebel groups shortens conflict but prolongs it when exploited by stronger rebel groups. We think our conditional analyses allow us to discern insurgencies driven at least in part by greedy rebels and therefore better illuminate the causal process by which resource wealth prolongs civil war.

Additional Information

Publication
https://doi.org/10.1177/2233865919833975
Language: English
Date: 2019
Keywords
Armed conflict, maritime piracy, civil war duration, civil war, rebel group, strength, funding armed conflicts
Subjects
Armed Conflict
Maritime Piracy

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