Paradoxes of West African Warlord Conflict Economy as a Part of Global Market

Abstract

This essay is devoted to the examination of the way globalization is connected to the conflict emergence in the developing world (with focus on the warfare in Liberia and Sierra Leone in 1989–2003). The key paradox of intensified conflicts in the developing world in the 1990s against the backdrop of deeper globalization is reviewed through the lens of civil wars in West Africa and their interconnection with the globalizing markets. Geo-economic foundations and structure of trans-border war zones with links to global markets are analyzed using this material. Overall, the essay seeks to examine the complexity and extent of the role globalization had on the fragile West African states in the post-Cold War context.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Alexander Shipilov

Alexander Shipilov is a Junior Research Fellow at the Laboratory for Institutional History of the 20th century at the Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences and a Senior Lecturer of International Relations at RUDN University, Moscow. His PhD thesis and numerous publications in Russian and International academic journals, including Taylor & Francis “South African Journal of International Affairs”, are particularly focused on the civil wars and conflict resolution in West Africa on the brink of the 21st century. He was awarded the Svend Holsoe Scholar Award by the Liberian Studies Association in 2020. E-mail: [email protected]