Ethnicity, Insurgency, and Civil War

Question 1

Central inquiry of Fearon

Answer 1

What are the determinants of civil war

Question 2

what is the RQ of Fearon

Answer 2

What political, economic, and geographic conditions in a country correlate to the onset of civil war

Question 3

what are there sub RQs

Answer 3

• why has civil war been increasingly prevalent globally (as of 1999)
• is the prevalence of civil war a result of the post Cold War international system
• are civil war onsets primarily a result of ethnic and religious tensions

Question 4

how many models of civil conflict in fearon

Answer 4

5
- civil war
- ethnic war
- civil war
- civil war plus empires
- civil war correlates of war

Question 5

how many hypotheses for Fearon

Answer 5

11

Question 6

finding for ethnic fractionalization

Answer 6

no statistically significant relationship between ethnic fractionalization and civil war onset

Question 7

finding for oil exports

Answer 7

feature strong relationships that are all statistically significant to some degree

Question 8

finding for per capita income

Answer 8

there is a negative relationship between per capita income and civil war onset

Question 9

how does fearon and laitin frame insurgency as technology of warfare

Answer 9

• characterize by small, lightly armed groups using guerilla tactics
• enabled by rough terrain, weak states, and local support
• relatively inexpensive and accessible, requiring fewer resources than traditional armies

Question 10

h8 for fearon

Answer 10

rough terrain, cross-border enclaves for rebels, and disaffected populations increase the risk of civil war onset
- correct

Question 11

h9 for fearon

Answer 11

rebel forces’ strength relative to the government increases the risk of civil war onset

Question 12

h10 for fearon

Answer 12

the political and military technology of insurgency will be favored and thus civil war made more likely, when potential rebels face or have available the following
- new states
- unstable states
- anocracies
- rural populations
- divided territories
- contraband
- oil
- foreign funding

Question 13

h11 fearon

Answer 13

controlling for per capita income, few other factors will impact the likelihood of civil war onset

Question 14

ethnic and religious diversity alone do not

Answer 14

cause civil wars
- grievances (such as ethnic or religious discrimination) are too widespread to reliably predict where civil wars occur

Question 15

structural conditions that favor insurgency

Answer 15

• weak state capacity, proxied by low per capita income
• political instability
• rough terrain

Question 16

after controlling for income, democracies are not

Answer 16

inherently less prone to civil war
- anocracies are especially vulnerable due to weak governance structures
- building state apparatuses, administrative and bureaucratic capacities is imperative
- protecting natural resources, such as oil, gemstones, metals, is also important resources make state control valuable

Question 17

investment in the socio-economic sector of conflict prone states

Answer 17

can help mitigate the risk factors for insurgencies