This study is based on the article written by Paul Richards in 2005: New War: An Ethnographic Approach. What was really important in this article, according to me, was to discover a new way to look at and to study wars. In this study, I will try to sum up what I've found in the article by stressing three important precisions that are essential while dealing with the subject: ‘Old and new wars'.
The concept of new war comes from the 90's and describes the conflicts that took place after the end of the Cold war. All those conflicts were no more influenced by an ideology. Those conflicts were new in so far as they are low intensity conflicts and they see the opposition of a lot of different players in a kind of global network. This number of players comes from the fact that the Western countries can't ignore anymore the conflicts in the South, given the fact that they can have some repercussions in their own countries. Those conflicts are not synonymous anymore with battlefield or conventional armies and weapons. They are based on what we call ‘Interzones', that is to say the zones where the State is absent or inefficient.
[...] Then this thesis is interesting, because it focuses on practices during the wars and not only on causes. However, the proofs given by Paul Collier are incorrect because they mix up economics and politics on some cases. Finally, this perspective would justify the fact to stop the negotiation with political representatives of the societies and only try to solve the problems by closing bank accounts and by threatening people with economical sanctions. According to Paul Richards, the good perspective on wars is not to be found in that thesis but in an analysis that would ask the question: people make war and peace?' His study is based on the idea that it's necessary to ‘re-socialise war and peace'. [...]
[...] Old and new wars This study is based on the article written by Paul Richards in 2005: New War: An Ethnographic Approach. What was really important in this article, according to me, was to discover a new way to look at and to study wars. In this study, I will try to sum up what I've found in the article by stressing three important precisions that are essential while dealing with the subject: and new wars'. The concept of new war comes from the 90's and describes the conflicts that took place after the end of the Cold war. [...]
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