In his latest book, Mathieu Couttenier strives “to shed light on the incentives that fuel violence and to illuminate the policies likely to mitigate its effects”. In particular, he questions the rather circular or cyclical nature of violence. His observations cover the latest internal civil conflicts in countries mainly in Africa, the Maghreb, South America and Asia, as well as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the war between Israel and Palestine. The book is organized in three parts, devoted respectively to the determinants of violence (poverty, inequalities, the monopolization of natural resources, personal ambitions, etc.), then to the mechanisms favoring conflicts, and finally, to the policies and mechanisms implemented to put an end to them.
The originality of the book lies in the analysis of the role of the media and social networks, in the triggering and continuation of conflicts, as well as in the sometimes indirect or implicit dimensions of their implications: psychological traumae, impacts on families, tearing of the social fabric, destruction of value chains, decline in the development of a country. The author reveals the complexity of mediation between belligerents, the diversity of forms of intervention by third countries and international organizations (UN, NATO, etc.), the inequality of sanctions imposed on those responsible for abuses, the hidden nature of war financed by industrial groups or neighboring states, the variety of possible aids for reconstruction, etc.
The author draws his sources from the many academic research works and journalistic testimonies devoted to armed conflicts, and he illustrates his analyses with quotations denouncing the misdeeds of violence, particularly collective violence. It provides useful keys to understanding, both theoretical and practical, current conflicts.
The author is a professor at the ENS Lyon and director of research in economics on governance, inequality and conflict (CERGIC).
Jean – Jacques Pluchart