CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2016
| Author | Akbik, Alexander |
|---|---|
| Title | War as a System - A Luhmannian Approach to the Study of War Recurrence on the Examples of Congo (1998-2003), Liberia (1999-2003), Kosovo (1999), and Chechnya (1999-2009) |
| Summary | This project engages with the question why some wars recur and others do not. It departs from the observation made prominent by Collier and Sambanis in 2002 that a considerable amount of wars is recurrent and consequently some countries are caught in a ‘conflict trap’ from which they seem unable to escape. Existing studies typically provide context-based explanations for the recurrence of war, linking the outcome with specific conditions created during the war and the opportunities present after conflict resolution. Often relying on statistical indicators to measure underlying causes of war recurrence, such studies fail to unpack the interrelations between war and society and thus cannot offer a comprehensive theorization that treats war as a social process rather than as a (series of) conflict(s) to be resolved. To address the gap, this project advances a modern systems theoretical framework for the study of war based on the work of Niklas Luhmann. The starting point is the conceptualization of war as a (dys-)functional or parasitical system whose operations can be studied along the communicative distinction between ‘friend’ and ‘enemy’. Taking into account that the war system operates alongside functional systems (such as the political, the economic or the legal system), it is argued that war recurrence is more likely when the functioning of other functional systems becomes dependent on the operations of the war system. In the Luhmannian terminology, this is captured by the concept of structural coupling of a system with its environment. Operations inside the war system are also taken into consideration, with the expectation that the fragmentation of war actors and the dispersion of violence is likely to foster war recurrence. The theoretical argument is illustrated on four empirical examples—the Kosovo War (1999), the Second Russo-Chechen War (1999-2009), the Second Liberian War (1999-2003), and the Second Congolese War (1998-2003). Based on newspaper articles collected from the LexisNexis database, a qualitative content analysis was conducted to investigate the operations of the war systems. The analysis revealed two distinct types of war system. In the case of the Kosovo War and the Liberian War, the parasitical impact of the war systems resulted in the destruction of all functional systems. Moreover, both wars witnessed the isolation of a major war grouping and a simultaneous linear progression of hostilities towards a decisive outcome on the battlefield. Consequently, the war systems were terminated in such a way that recurrence became unlikely. In the case of Chechnya and Congo, structural couplings of the war systems could be observed and accordingly also the recurrence of war. In both cases, the operations of functional systems became dependent on the continuation of the war(s). Additionally, in these two cases, isolation of war parties was circumvented and violence became dispersed—which rendered any decisive outcome impossible. The findings underline new avenues of research for the study of war recurrence and social order as well as offer recommendations for policymakers on the prevention of war recurrence. |
| Supervisor | Kim, Youngmi |
| Department | International Relations PhD |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2016/akbik_alexander.pdf |
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