Conflicts Flashcards
5 causes of conflicts
Identity Ethnicity Culture Territory Ideology
Causes of conflict : Identity
Sense of belonging to a group or area where there is a generic character or similarity with personality
Nationalism – loyalty and devotion to nation – exalting that nation above all others where its cultures and interests are above others
Regionalism- loyalty to distinct region – can lead to separation of political or social systems
Localism- affection for a particular place- rarely in a political sense but demonstrated by ‘nimbyism’ (not in my back yard) : when people are reluctant to have their area affected by development for the national good
Causes of conflict : Ethnicity
The grouping of people according to their ethnic origins or characteristics
Causes of conflict : Culture
A set of customary beliefs, social norms and traits of racial, religious or social groups along with attitudes, values and practices
Causes of conflict : Territory
The geographical area you belong to – conflict arises when there is disagreement as to who should have authority to an area or resource
Causes of conflict : Ideology
A systematic body of concepts regarding human life, culture or religion
Can result in a set of integrated assertions theories and aims that together constitute a socio-political programmes, e.g. western views of democracy and alternative views of the Taliban
4 Patterns of Conflict
International
National
Regional
Local
International Conflict
Where conflict involves more than one country
National Conflict
Within one country
Local Conflict
Conflict is restricted to one region or area of a country
The UN
Monitoring, Elections and Humanitarian Relief
3 Main Areas
- Conflict prevention and resolution
- Sustainable development
- Human Rights
Icludes FAO + WHO
Ways in which conflict is resolved
Discussion + debate
Pressure + political groups
Campaigning
Passage of legislation
Action by international organisations
Cease fires
Peace talks or harsher war
Cause of conflict : Explanation and Example : Landlocked countries
Need to cross into other countries to trade
South Sudan
Cause of conflict : Explanation and Example : Access to Water
Interpretation of water shed lines
Removal Upstream
Use of water as a border
USA western states
Cause of conflict : Explanation and Example : Minority groups
Separation
Historical homeland may not agree with border
Seasonal movement of people of people
Kurdistan
Cause of conflict : Explanation and Example : Resources
Resources of international important - e.g oil
Syria
4 stages of conflict spectrum
Conflict Avoidance
Assertive
Action
Armed Conflict
Conflict Avoidance
Discuss peacefully and debate
Ignore difference of views
Seek democracy
Assertive
Seek wider support and try an negotiate
Lobby for political power and influence
Use third party to try and resolve disputes
Action
Take direct action or violent action
Use legal system to improve a solution
Armed Conflict
Insurrection and armed conflict
War
Threats to force a solution
Market Processes
Where the organisation takes priority by paying the going rate.
Often, objectors cannot afford to outbid the developer, so it goes ahead with little consultation – right to propose arguments but not appeal
Planning Processes : Local Authority
Listen to community
Listen to the organisation
Have overall control
Planning Processes : Refusal from local authority
Refusal may lead to appeal by the developer - to a local planning committee or a higher body – e.g. Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)
Why are planning processes more costly
Modifications to compensate the opposition
If additional provision is needed- roads may need to be built etc. and staff
Planning committees weigh up what when making a decision
Gains from the proposal against negative aspects
Conflicts between differing groups
The wider benefits vs local
Who is For T5
BAA/BA
Major London Business
Trade Unions
Local Employees
Who is Against T5
Local Residence
13 London borough councils
HACAN (Heathrow Association for the Control of Aircraft Noise)
For argument of T5
Air travel growth
Reputation of long queues
European Competition
Global Hub- business routes
Local Economy - jobs
Investment to London
Tourism
Air travel growth T5
Air travel growth - 70% increase between 91-00, worlds busiest airport
European competition T5
Frankfurt, Paris + Amsterdam catching up and expanding
Local Economy T5
– T5 would employ up to 20,000 people, contribute £3 Bn contributor
Tourism T5
worth £10 Bn to economy, £1.5 Bn less without T5
Arguments against T5
Economic contribution overstated
Heavily subsidized
Airlines pay nothing towards noise and air pollution
HACAN say that transfers don’t contribute to economy and just benefit BAA and BA
Noise Pollution
Largest structure on green belt to get larger
Pressure on M25
Aviation Contribution
Aviation contribution is overstated as the 26th biggest industry
Subsided airlines
airlines pay no VAT for fuel, unpaid tax worth £16 Bn by 2020
Noise Pollution
WHO target 50Db as a heathy maximum, but it is between 57-72Db locally
Who are the Israelis?
Began as a homeland for Jewish people
Religious ties to the area , a lot of migration from
Jews from Russia and Europe after discrimination
Who are the Palestinians
Mostly Muslim Arabs
60s – violent attacks against Israel – 11 athletes killed in Germany Olympics ‘72
Israel Historical Background : Before WW1
Ruled by Turkish Ottoman Empire before WW1
Israel Historical Background : Between the wars
Britain took control during various times of trouble between Arabs and Jews
Israel Historical Background : After WW2
After WW2 Britain let the UN decide to turn Palestine into two countries the Arabs and the Jews
Since the Jewish leaders accepted and the Arab leaders didn’t, in 1948 the state of Israel was declared, with support from the West
Israel Historical Background : After 1948
War broke out between Arab nations and Israel
Formal war ended after months of intensive fighting and international diplomacy
Israel Historical Background : The Start Of The Current Conflict
1987- beginning of demonstrations against Israel
Peace talks began in the 90s and Israel withdrew from the West Bank + Gaza
The Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) agreed to stop attacks, but the uprising started again in 2001 when peace talks failed
Israel Historical Background : Occupied Territories
After ’48 war, Egypt took control on the Gaza strip and Jordan the West Bank
‘67- Israel captured these areas and started to set up Jewish settlements (illegal by international law)
Aug/Sep ‘05 – Israel withdrew its settlers from the areas but they were still in control of borders and airspace – unpopular with settled Israelis
Gaza Strip
1 million official, but many Arab refugees, stop the area from being as economically prosperous as its history
Economy crippled by international boycott, very over crowded as well and high unemployment – Israel withhold tax revenues
Young population with no hope- 50% under 17
2007/08 Israel : Elections
2006 Palestine elections were held by the international community
Winning party Hamas, a radical Islamist group who don’t recognise the state of Israel
USA, Israel and Europe refused to acknowledge the result, imposing sanctions of Palestine
2007/08 Israel : Gunmen loyalty
Gunmen are loyal to either the President or the Hamas prime minister, leading to conflict – crippling investment and preventing people from leaving their homes
2007/08 Israel Intervention into Palestine
Israel conducts air strikes on Hamas but Gaza is so crowded, many civilians injured or dead
Raids into refugee camps in search for terrorists
Nothing has stopped rocket fire from Hamas
Israeli/Palestinian Conflict : Economic Impacts
Lack of Development and Trade
Loss in Income
Cost of War
Poverty Increase
Israeli/Palestinian Conflict : Economic Impacts : Lack of Development
(244 schools damaged)
41% unemployment in Gaza compared to 6% in Israel
Israeli/Palestinian Conflict : Economic Impacts : Cost Of War
Estimated $40 billion loss in income opportunity to Palestine, total cost of war = $12trillion, over last 2 decades
Israeli/Palestinian Conflict : Economic Impacts : Poverty
Poverty more than double from 91-07
Israeli/Palestinian Conflict : Environmental Impacts
Over pumping in Israel= less water
Rubbish dumped from Israel to Palestine
Building of the wall destroying tens of thousands of trees
Israeli/Palestinian Conflict : Environmental Impacts : Water
Over pumping by Israel leaves Palestine with 60 litres a day, compared to Israel’s 280 and the 100 litres WHO say is appropriate
The building of the wall means Palestine will lose 18% of their share of the water basin
Israeli/Palestinian Conflict : Environmental Impacts : Waste
Tons of rubbish is dumped in Palestine a day to avoid strict environmental laws in Israel – 50 million litres of raw sewages pumped into sea a day
Israeli/Palestinian Conflict : Social Impacts
Refugees
Deaths
Human rights groups argue that the Israeli army treat Arabs harshly – road checkpoint – many feel like that are in a prison
West Bank Barrier - Palestinians hate the border, it even prevents them from using their farmland
Israeli/Palestinian Conflict : Social Impacts Refugees and deaths
4 Million Palestinians refugees, many living in camps in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon
Over 25000 deaths since 1970
Ethnic Segregation
Ethnic segregation is the clustering together of people with similar ethnic or cultural characteristics
Foreign Population of UK
In 2006 foreign population increased to 5 million from 4.3 in 2001
Migration to the UK Since the Nineteenth Century
19th Century - Jewish Arrivals escaping persecution and Irish escaping poverty
30s/40s - Jews escape WW2
48-60s - Carobbean workers to build post-war Britain
50s-60s - India, Pakistan + Bangladesh seeking work
70s - Vietnam and Uganda escaping war and persecution
80s-90s - European refugees from Yugoslavia
00s - Migration caused my enlargement of EU
What does multicultural mean?
Multicultural means that significant numbers of people differ from the majority in terms of language, customs, food, attire, religion
It can also refer to:
The extent to which new migrant accept that they are ‘British’
The number of different types of community (enclaves) in one area
The extent to which people are ‘different’, not just religiously and ethnically
Multicultural Policies : Separation
Because people of different ethnicities have little in common, people should be separate to avoid conflict. = Apartheid till 1994 in South Africa and ‘White Australia’ in the 60s
Multicultural Policies : Assimilation
Expects new migrants to lose their distinctiveness and adopt the culture of the host country.- Denmark and USA
Multicultural Policies : Pluralism
Expects ethnic groups to participate and contribute to their host country yet maintain their identity. : Singapore
Issues related to Multicultural Societies : Housing
Concentration of multiply occupancy renting in inner-city terraces within the poorer areas (due to cheap labour areas) with initial immigration and concentrations grow as migrants see this area as attractive culturally
Minorities also struggle to gain mortgages and can struggle to find accommodation due to discrimination and are disproportionate in social housing
Issues related to Multicultural Societies : Education
Special English lessons for students and parents
Schools are created for religious reasons - very rare, its more often that school meals and timetables are changes instead
Issues related to Multicultural Societies : Healthcare
In history there were issues with immunisation but integration means that this is no longer common
Issues related to Multicultural Societies : Language + Culture
Employment is difficult without English
Conflict within ethnic communities due to some changing language or culture
Issues related to Multicultural Societies : Religion
Adhering to religious calendars and practises conflicts with employers, authorities and nationalists
Distribution of Cultural Groups - London
major urban areas of the country particularly London (1.8 migrants)
50% of migrants live in London
London, 60% of Caribbean population, 50% of Bangladeshi, 80% of Black African
Distribution of Cultural Groups - Asian
Large concentration of Indian ethnicity in the midlands due to labour intensive industry in the 50s/60s
Pakistani : Bradford, Leeds and Birmingham
Bangladeshi : Luton, Oldham and Birmingham
China distributed all over
Distribution of Cultural Groups - enclaves
Enclaves are concentrated ethnic communities, consisting of businesses, residents, religious buildings and community institutions
Enclave was describe by Portes and Wilson (1980) : tight community of buyers and sellers
Nature of Separatism
Separatism is the splitting of people or groups from the larger majority
The feeling of being alienated by the central government, seeking to gain more control
Reasons for Separatism
Economic variation
Separate language or culture
Religious differences
Local resources
Geographical distance from economic and political core
Weakening of state means people may way to rule themselves
Strengthening of supranational bodies, such as the EU, giving groups more opportunity to develop Autonomy – (the right to self-government)
5 Dimensions of a nation
Psychological - must exist in peoples minds
Cultural –must understand each other, through language and customs
Historical – history tells citizens that the nation existed before them and will exist after, highlights its strength
Territory – fights for sacristy and history of territory
Political – People must be making their own decisions or will seek autonomy
New nations envourage nationalism by
Particularly new nations, encourage nationalism to create unity between individuals, regardless of wealth etc. : e.g. pledging allegiance to US flag
The negative side to this is exclusion and xenophobia
Increasingly more extreme stages of seperatism
Establishment of maintenance of separate societies - Bretons in France
Protection Of Language - Welsh and Catalan
Growth of Separatist political parties - SNP
Terrorist Violence - Basques
Civil war - Tamil Tigers
History of the Kurds
Kurds have occupied the area for several thousand years
Originally small kingdoms and tribes
After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire the land was French and English
After the first world war, a Kurdish state was planned but Turkish nationalist won British support due to their knowledge of oil reserves
Facts about Kurds
Largest stateless nation – 40 Million
Mostly Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria – all against a Kurdish state
Reasons for Kurd Separatism
Language
Culture
Land
Oppressed (economically as well)
Poorly looked after particularly schools
All Kurdish nations against for why
A new Kurdistan would disrupt their national security and balance of power
If one country allowed independence it would unsettle Kurds in the other countries
No intention of giving up land to create another rival
Valuable oil deposits
Kurds and Turkey
PKK are a violent group who are known for kidnapping tourists, bombing and attacks
Turkey responded by destroying over 3000 Kurdish villages and land to stop financial support
Funded from Kurds across the world – 400,00 in Germany
The EU supports independence to create a safer country if Turkey should join
Kurds and Iran
6 million
Kurds fought against Iran in the Iran-Iraq war
Iranian government massacred people as a result
100,000 troops against Pro-Kurd demonstrations in 05
Kurds and Iraq
With some Kurds helping Iran in the war, Suddam Hussein executed over 180,000 Kurds and bombed villages with chemical gas
Hussein deported 250,000 from a district which produces 70% of Iraq’s Oil
Times have been better since then : 2003 collapse
Kurds and Syria
Illegal to teach in Kurdish
1961- 100,000 stripped of citizenship, land was given to Arab settlers
Kurds and US
Against Kurd independence because they do not want to destabilise Iraq
Bradford 76-24
‘76 – 24 arrested when Asian youths confronted National Front
Bradford ‘81
’81 - 12 young Asians used petrol bombs as self-defence against racists
Bradford ‘01
‘01- Bradford riots 2 stabbed, 36 arrested – cost of £7m
Bradford Now
Conflict is still rife in this area and many will argue it has resulted in more segregation with separate schools and businesses for Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus
Basque Separatist Movement 1968
900 people have died in the conflict
One of the oldest ethnic groups in Europe
Separate language
Use of language was banned by Franco, who led Spain until 1975, everything was suppressed for 40 years
The ETA was formed and declared war on Spain in the 60s – very violent campaign
In 1979 a referendum mean that they were allowed their own parliament but attacks continue
Uganda Debt Cancellation
The HIPC initiative cancelled $2Bn worth of debts in 2005
40% more spending on Education, 70% on Healthcare
Primary school is free with rates from 60% in 2002 to 93% in 2006
20% fewer girls in primary schools in 2000, now pretty much even
2.2 million more have access to clean drinking water
LE Increased by 20 years in 16 years
Timor-Leste
East Timor declared itself independent from Portugal in 1975 but was invaded by Indonesia just 9 days later
Over 100,000 conflict related deaths
1999- UN sponsored referendum gave a majority to East Timor
Anti-Independence groups were funded by Indonesia and killed thousands destroying 70% of Infrastructure
A lot of displacement of people
Internationally recognized in 2002
Orange Revolution
A series of protests in 2004 and 2005
Aftermath of Ukrainian presidential election, claimed to be corrupt, with voter intimidation
Thousands of protesters in Kiev daily
Under intense scrutiny by domestic and international observers, a second election was held and the opposition, Yushchenko won on 52%
In 2010 the original (Yanukovych) succeeded the opposition
In 2014 Yanukovych was back out of power following clashes where 100 died
What are the MDGs
Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger
- Reduce people living on less than a dollar a day by half
- Half world hunger
Achieve universal primary education
Promote Gender Equality
Improve maternal health
Combat hiv/aids and malaria
Ensure environmental sustainability
- Integrate sustainability into development projects
- Reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable water
- Significantly improve slum SOL by 2020
Global Partnership for development
Origins of Global debt
In the 60s European colonies were handed back, and countries were keen for investment in economic growth
70s- oil prices raised twice, money was invested into western banks
Banks lent money to developing countries for development and the finance conflict
80s- interest rates doubled, and many countries were unable to pay the money back
Structural Adjustment Packages were created to make debts more affordable given the country cut down on spending
More inequality due to austerity
HIPC Initiative
Reductions in debt under agreements with the G8, meaning those countries which qualified were paying $1.5 billion less each year
To qualify the country must demonstrate good financial management with a lack of corruption and the money save must be spent of development
Progress in achieving the MDGs
41 million more children in primary school
Odds on a woman dying during pregnancy are 1in 16 in SSA and 1 in 3800 in developed world
1Bn still living on less than a dollar a day
Demographic Background of Afghanistan
Population growth shows its certainly in stage 2
Largely subsistence farming
45% under 15
High infant mortality and fertility rate -6.8
3 million died in wars since 1988
6 million emigrated
Land has potential but best land is used for growing illegal heroin poppy seeds
Taliban control in 1996, meant very few women are educated, problems like male doctors unable to treat women because they are not allowed to touch them
Political Background of Afghanistan
Foreign armies have fought over the land for century’s
Terrain and ethic, regional and religious rivalries make it difficult for Kabul to take charge
History of Afghnistan since 1996
1996- Taliban seize control of Kabul and introduce hard-line version of Islam
1997- Taliban recognised as rulers, controlling 2/3
1998- US launches missiles to bases of Bin Laden who was accused of bombing US embassies in Africa
2001- Leader of Taliban opposition is assassinated, 9/11, US declare war when the Taliban refuse to hand over Bin Laden
2003- NATO takes control of Kabul
2004- Presidential elections
2009- More troops
2011- US burning of the Koran creates wide spread protest with UN workers killed
2014- US and Uk end combat in Afghanistan
2015- Afghan forces are in control
No development without security
One aim of deploying forces to Afghanistan is to create better security to allow development for example transportation is restored.
In one district of Afghanistan, there was enough aid from Britain for each person to have ¼ of their annual age, but there is very little evidence of any money actually trickling down to them
Only a heavy security presence can prevent farmers turning to Opium growing, 60% of the economy
No security without development
The country doesn’t have enough money to operate a modern democracy
1 in 10 Afghan teachers has their wages paid by the British tax payer
Afghan government is concerned that too much is being spent on the war against drugs and not enough on security and development - $10 million- UK photography to get information about land-use
With no future people are far more likely to turn towards extremism, therefore a country becomes less secure
