Andreas Graf

University of Basel, North-South Doctoral Programme; and SwissPeace

Staff page at SwissPeace

Mitigating Resource-related Conflicts: The Influence of Wealth Sharing Arrangements on Political Stability

Disputes over access to natural resources and the modalities of their management have been contributing to causing and exacerbating violent conflict. Under these circumstances, readdressing the way in which natural resources are managed and shared among different parties is pivotal for conflict transformation. On a number of occasions, wide ranging provisions on the sharing of resource wealth have been included in peace treaties and post-conflict constitutions and laws. However, quantitative studies indicate a very mixed track record of these wealth sharing arrangements (Rustad & Binningsbø 2012).

While the role of natural resources in violent conflicts has become subject to an extensive debate among scholars of peace and conflict, research on ways to transform resource-related conflicts remains scant. This project aims at contributing to bridging this gap by looking at the effect of wealth sharing arrangements. More precisely, the main question guiding the research is: How do wealth sharing arrangements influence political stability after armed conflicts related to high-value natural resources?

The research question is addressed by identifying causal mechanisms explaining the link between wealth sharing and political stability. The three cases selected for the purpose of this dissertation are the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement in Sudan, the Helsinki Memorandum of Understanding on Aceh/Indonesia of 2005 as well as the Bougainville Peace Agreement of 2001.

References

Rustad, Siri Aas & Helga Malmin Binningsbø (2012) 'Sharing the Wealth: A pathway to peace or a trail to nowhere'. In: Siri Aas Rustad, Conflict, Peace and Natural Resources: The role of natural-resource management in building lasting peace, Doctoral thesis, NTNU.