Wars of Plunder: Conflicts, Profits and the Politics of Resources (Columbia/Hurst)
This impressive book will be a very significant contribution to its field. It does a remarkable job of summarizing a multifarious, and often complex, body of literature without oversimplifying it... and reveals a prodigious amount of reading by the author as well as the breadth of field research he has pursued over many years.(Dr Ricardo Soares de Oliveira, Oxford University)The complexity of contemporary resource wars is elegantly unpacked in this lucid investigation of geography and violence. It shows how resources are entangled in complicated geopolitical economies, which require careful policy initiatives rather than simple moral certainties. This simply is the 'must-read' volume for anyone concerned to understand these issues in depth.(Simon Dalby, Carleton University, and author ofSecurity and Environmental Change)For anyone interested in war economies and what to do about them, this book is a real 'must-read.' From Angola to Cambodia, from oil to timber, Philippe Le Billon draws on two decades of scholarly research and field experience to paint a remarkable picture of the complex resource-conflict nexus. Concise yet nuanced and comprehensive.(Gilles Carbonnier, Graduate Institute, Geneva, and editor in chief ofInternational Development Policy)Philippe Le Billon has written a deep, nuanced, and analytically rich exploration of the many ways oil, diamonds, and timber intertwine with violent conflict. His is an important book for both scholars and activists.(Michael L. Ross, University of California, Los Angeles, and author ofThe Oil Curse: How Petroleum Wealth Shapes the Development of Nations)