ABSTRACT

In the previous chapter the actors were shown to have been political actors. The concepts of power, authority and rule were applied to the social organisation or faction itself. In this chapter, the concept of politics will be treated with regard to the relations of the factions towards each other.1 For the hypothesis, as formulated in Chapter 1, to hold, it needs to become clear that the actors strive for interests of a political nature. Politics again has been defined as concerned with power, authority and rule. Evidence will be presented in this chapter that supports the claim that political interests drove the interaction in the two wars. In particular, the state was the focus of factional confrontations. Political interests defined the essence of the two wars. Actors involved in armed conflict in which the state structures have collapsed do fight for political interests. First, arguments will be put forward why political interests are dominant. Second, the alternative arguments of resource conflict and ethnic war will be questioned in this chapter.