

Why easily looted resources make wars worse [pdf] - wisty
http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/polisci/faculty/ross/whatdoweknow.pdf

======
wisty
Abstract:

Since the mid-1990s there has been a growing body of research on the causes of
civil wars. One of the most surprising and important findings is that natural
resources – in particular, oil and gemstones – play a key role in triggering
and prolonging these conflicts.

This paper summarizes recent findings on natural resources and civil war. It
explains four ways that resources increase the hazard of civil war: by harming
a country’s economic performance; by making its government weaker, more
corrupt, and less accountable; by giving people who live in resource-rich
regions an incentive to form an independent state; and by helping finance
rebel movements. These patterns help explain the unusually high rate of civil
wars in Sub-Saharan Africa, a region with many resource-dependent states.

~~~
waterlesscloud
So wait...people fight wars over resources?

