Suchergebnisse

1 Introduction: life in the borderland . - 2 Eastern Congo: miners, 'moles' and the users of force . - 3 The great escape? Diamond mining in the borderland of Sierra Leone . - 4 Liberia: land, belonging and identity in a border area . - 5 Northern Mali: criminality, coping and resistance along an elusive frontier . - 6 Northern Uganda: displacement and fear in the borderland . - 7 Navigating Nakivale: the refugee camp as borderland . - 8 Conclusion: touching from a distance

Conflict economies cannot be approached in isolation but must instead be contextualised socially and historically. These economies did not emerge in vacuum, but are part and parcel of the history of people and place. This book explores the informal and illicit extraction and trade of minerals and other types of natural resources that takes place in the ''borderlands'' during periods of conflict. This type of extraction and marketing, often referred to as 'conflict trade' depends on a weak state, and works alongside the structures of the state and its officials. The book emphasises that conflic.

Violent extremism: The journey in and the pathway out
Understanding and addressing violent extremism goes beyond just ideology. Morten Bøås of the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs suggests that looking at the underlying reasons and addressing its root cause might be crucial to finding solutions. Defining violent extremism is like grabbing slippery soap. Most of us have ideas about what violent extremism is, what type of acts of violence qualify, and what kinds of ideologies and belief systems that we would say promote it. The challenge, however, is that the definition of violent extremism is almost exclusively subjective. What one person deems as violent extremism may be perfectly justifiable for another.

The crisis in the Sahel is serious and multidimensional, and if it continues unabated it could have consequences far beyond the region. As the states of the region are too poor and weak to deal with this on their own, international support is needed. It is therefore a positive sign that the region of Sahel is higher on the international agenda than it has ever been. The challenge, however, is that current international approaches and interventions in the Sahel are more in line with short-term external priorities, such as stopping irregular migration to Europe and fighting insurgencies that have been defined as part of a global complex of jihadist terrorism. There is no doubt that there is a migration crisis in the Sahel and we do need a military approach to several of the insurgencies. However, it must be part of a much broader agenda of humanitarian assistance and development support that is context and conflict sensitive. This policy dialogue addresses the root causes of the Sahel crisis and shows how the situation has evolved over time. The current crisis is deeply rooted in historical circumstances that external stakeholders cannot ignore. The main area of focus for the report is the epicentre of the current conflict, which is located in and around Mali, but which may have several important ramifications for the neighbouring G5 Sahel countries of Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Niger. ; CONTENTS: 1. Introduction. - 2. Mali and the Sahel – the epicentre of contemporaryAfrican conflict. - 3. Conflict trends and drivers of violence. - 4. Concluding remarks. - References. - Index.