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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Oil and armed conflicts in Africa |
Author: | Le Billon, Philippe |
Year: | 2010 |
Periodical: | African Geographical Review (ISSN 1937-6812) |
Volume: | 29 |
Issue: | 1 |
Pages: | 63-90 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Africa |
Subjects: | war petroleum geopolitics |
External link: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19376812.2010.9756226 |
Abstract: | Popular geopolitical representations of oil in Africa conjure up images of corrupt politicians, disgruntled populations, and predatory foreign oil companies: a volatile mix often held up as the cause of the armed conflicts in which African 'petrostates' are supposedly locked. This article queries these geopolitical narratives, and offers a different perspective: while several countries - such as Algeria, Angola, Nigeria and Sudan - have indeed experienced long and deadly conflicts, African oil-producing countries have not, on average, been more frequently at war than non-oil producers. The article explores this perspective by reviewing the main arguments linking oil and armed conflicts, providing a brief overview of conflict trends, and identifying some of the major conflict risk factors. These factors should inform future risk assessments for African oil-producing countries, while motivating further research considering broader forms of violence and their geographies. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract] |