Conflict Trends: 2013 review
14th January 2014
As 2013 comes to a close, our Conflict and Security convenor, Jason Collodi, shares his thoughts about what have been the key trends and issues in his topic area over the year.
A big focus this year has
been on non-conflict (armed) violence - violence which is politically or criminally motivated such as organised crime, and youth crime. He shares literature outputs that range from looking at the drug wars of Mexico and Central America, to the effects of organised crime on governance in developing countries. Concern is also emerging for the stability of the large number of fragile states, as Latin American drug cartels switch their attention to West Africa in order to establish new supply routes into Europe.
Conflict driven by natural resources to some extent re-emerged as an issue in 2013 ranging from consequences of natural resource extraction for peace and stability in Afghanistan for example, to the impact of legal vs illegal crops on the stability of developing countries.
Worldwide activism against gender-based violence has done much to increase attention this year on the gender dimension of non-conflict violence, and indeed a new project here at IDS considers the need for effective organised activism against gender-based violence.
Take a look at Jason’s Blog and add your thoughts on what the key issues were in 2013 and what we might see emerging into 2014. Also, don't forget to make a regular visit to Jason's Conflict and Security Resource Guide.
A big focus this year has
been on non-conflict (armed) violence - violence which is politically or criminally motivated such as organised crime, and youth crime. He shares literature outputs that range from looking at the drug wars of Mexico and Central America, to the effects of organised crime on governance in developing countries. Concern is also emerging for the stability of the large number of fragile states, as Latin American drug cartels switch their attention to West Africa in order to establish new supply routes into Europe.Conflict driven by natural resources to some extent re-emerged as an issue in 2013 ranging from consequences of natural resource extraction for peace and stability in Afghanistan for example, to the impact of legal vs illegal crops on the stability of developing countries.
Worldwide activism against gender-based violence has done much to increase attention this year on the gender dimension of non-conflict violence, and indeed a new project here at IDS considers the need for effective organised activism against gender-based violence.
Take a look at Jason’s Blog and add your thoughts on what the key issues were in 2013 and what we might see emerging into 2014. Also, don't forget to make a regular visit to Jason's Conflict and Security Resource Guide.