ABSTRACT
The previous chapter has presented as objective as possible a picture of the state of conflict in the post-Cold War world (based on scale) in terms of estimated death tolls. It is clear that the african continent has been the host of the vast majority of the world’s conflict-related deaths. The most deadly conflict has been concentrated in the great lakes region, which alone has been responsible for more conflict-related death than the rest of the world’s conflicts combined. Furthermore, in most cases the vast majority of conflict-related deaths are nonviolent, resulting from the effects of conflict, rather than from the acts of violence themselves. One of the defining characteristics of most conflicts appears to be warlordism, in which leaders achieve and sustain control over valuable resources in an environment of insecurity: a situation made possible by the global trade in arms and valuable natural resources and other commodities.
