Page 296 - Conflitti Militari e Popolazioni Civili - Tomo II

798 XXXIV Congresso della CommIssIone InternazIonale dI storIa mIlItare • CIHm

control and to sophisticated economic interactions on a global level , and it is also observ-
16
able their political cognition and interest .
17
About the second aspect, the role played by the population in relation to the armed ac-
tors, “new” wars would be characterized not only by the absence of population support to the
fighters, but also by the fact that civilians become the principal victim of violence. According
to many studies of conflicts, it is possible to observe that the popular support is today still
present and it is also possible to reorganize the common conviction that “old” wars enjoyed
18
of such wide and undisputed support. The most known cases pertain to Latin America’s re-
bellions that were characterized by a consistent population support. Many studies centered
on micro and local level have shown the alliances between population and armed actors
formed into a very fluid reality defined by particular and private dynamics. In a central zone
of Peru the bond between population and the insurgent group “Sendero Luminoso” was very
strong until the rise of a deep crisis among two communities for a land contention. The guer-
rilla supported only a community fighting against the hostile one . This case clearly shows
19
that relationships and social connections are constantly modified and frequently ensue local
and personal dynamics rather than dynamics directly connected to the main collective and
national rift of the conflict.
The third and last dimension concerns the kind of violence. The current forms are de-
scribed as actions of free, uncontrolled and illogical violence, performed by criminal groups
(mercenaries, “warlords”, paramilitaries etc.) that do not have a centralized command struc-
ture. This analysis would appear too superficial if, considering many studies, it is evident
that not only forms of uncontrolled and indiscriminate violence were diffused in the past
conflicts, but also a lot of actions of violence in current wars are extremely “selective.” Many
studies show how all civil wars have been a scenario of atrocities and ferocities of any sort
and underline that violence is very often highly strategic because it is addressed to specific
goals, as in the case brought by Paul Richards on the Sierra Leone . in 1995 the rebels were
20
responsible for an unbelievable ferocity of cutting off the hands of women in some villages.
A similar atrocity, apparently senseless and fruit of primitive barbarity, instead followed a
logic and specific strategy: the terror produced by these cases of amputations resulted in

16 This aspect is well show by Duffield interpretation that we will present in this essay.
17 Peters and Richard in their study on Sierra Leone war show as African rebellious movements, in spite of their
stigmatization like apolitical groups, had a deep political knowledge. The study in question is “Why We Fi-
ght: Voices of Youth Combatants in Sierra Leone” in Africa 68, n.2, 1998. Interesting is also the observations
by I. Duyvesteyn in his essay “Contemporary War: Ethnic Conflict, Resource Conflict or Something Else”
in Civil wars, vol.3, No. 1 (Spring 2000), pp.92-116, whereas, speaking about liberia and Somalia conflicts,
criticize the analysis only based on ethnic and economic reasons showing the importance of the political
dimension.
18 For instance, in the study by Young Tom “A victim of modernity. Explaining the war in Mozambique” (in
Rich e Stubbs, eds, The Counter-Insurgent State: Guerrilla Warfare and State-Building in the Twentieth
Century, New York, St. Martin’s Press, 1997, pp. 136-7) author shows as Renamo had a considerable popu-
lation support mainly in the rural zones.
19 Case related in Manrique N., “The war for the Central Sierra”, in S. Stern, ed., Shining and Other Paths: War
and Society in Peru, 1980-1995, London, Duke University Press, 1998.
20 P. Richards, Fighting for the Rain Forest: War, Youth, and Resources in Sierra Leone, Oxford, James Currey,
1996.