Resultados

The New war theory is a departure from the traditional narrative of conflict to look at contemporary conflicts and try to explain them using the current characterisation. The theory holds that there is a dramatic change in post-cold war conflicts compared to the historical cold war conflicts in the terms of the patterns of violence and the negative consequences of such wars (Newman, 2004). Moreover, the theory argues that contemporary conflicts can be contrasted with old wars in terms of their goals, methods of warfare and how they are financed (Kaldor, 2001). De Waal argues that today’s conflicts are complex humanitarian emergencies caused mostly by armed conflicts and exacerbated by natural disasters or international policies.

‘New Wars’ do not only involve state armies and insurgencies but also paramilitaries, ethnic groups, criminal gangs and international mercenaries (Kaldor, 2001). They differ from the old wars which were predominantly a clash of government militaries and insurgencies.

The New wars are mostly civil wars and spill over borders destroying livelihoods and food systems while forcing people to flee (DeWaal, 2015). The dataset for Uppsala supports the New War theory that conflicts have shifted from interstate conflict to civil wars. According to the dataset there has been a dramatic decline in interstate wars and an increase in intrastate conflicts. For instance, in the year 2001 the only interstate war was the India Pakistan war over the Kashmir region while civil wars had gone up. The shift provides an explanation to how war has become internalised and the impacts of that on livelihoods and food security.

Protagonists of the New Wars theory postulate that it is an outcome of state failure and a social transformation caused by globalisation and liberal economy which brews competition for natural resources and the rise of various other groups, war lords which are organised along identity lines (Newman, 2004). The social transformation builds classes that pursue human needs and therefore use any means to access their needs. Elsewhere the shift to intrastate conflict and the rise of terrorist groups like Boko haram in Northern Nigeria and Al-Shabaab in Somalia that are organised on religious fundamentalism clearly depicts the New War theory.

In South Sudan the current conflict has seen an upsurge of various rebel groups that are organised and driven by ethnic/tribal identity in the fight for natural resources like land, water, and grazing land. Rolandsen argues that the current armed conflict in South Sudan has seen an intensification of ethnic clashes over natural resources and political differences. These clashes

43 | P a g e

threaten the very foundations of a united and newly independent South Sudan (Rolandsen, 2015). The clashes have also resulted in the destruction of property and confiscation of food stuffs as well as raiding of cattle among ethnic groups (FAO, 2015). The conflict which started more as a political conflict transformed and degenerated into an ethnic conflict by exacerbating the already existing tribal acrimonies.

The New war theory argues that ethnic and religious conflicts are a characteristic of New Wars than political ideology (Newman, 2004). These wars are fought not in pursuit of an ideology as was the case with the traditional wars, but essentially to advance collective interests of a religious or ethnic group. The very motives of the war which is hinged on interests of a particular group makes the conflict detached from any ideology as the fight seeks to gratify a few and not a collective transending tribe, religion or any other social and political division.

According to Kaldor the goal in the New Wars is to gain access to the state by a particular group and not to achieve and pursue a political ideology that informs policies for broader public interest (Kaldor, 2013). It is informed by the emergency of good communications by way of new technology and migration of rural to urban migration. More so the New Wars is an outcome of the erosion of more inclusive and often state based political ideologies like socialism and post-colonial nationalism. DeWaal argues that the New wars are more lethal than the old wars both in terms of violence and hunger (DeWaal, 2015). This is made possible because of the identity nature of conflicts and the environment that it creates which makes it difficult for the passage of food aid and the operations of aid workers. In the traditional wars government and insurgencies used to protect aid workers and allow passage of food aid as opposed to blocking of food aid workers which is a dominant characteristic of New Wars (DeWaal, 2015).

The Somali famine of 2011-2012 which killed 250000 people is often referred to as a depiction in the New War theory (Maxwell & Majid, 2016). The famine was an outcome of a plethora of factors encapsulated in natural hunger, war and economic crisis. Aid workers could not reach the need people because of restrictions by the governing authority Al-Shabaab as well as the high risk of kidnapping and violence (Maxwell & Majid, 2016). The situation was made worse by the US counter terrorism policy which acted as an impediment to aid workers in areas

44 | P a g e

occupied by insurgencies. At the core of the famine however was the conflict and the nature of that conflict which blocked humanitarian aid to areas occupied by the insurgencies. Despite warning signs, the humanitarian organisations could not come up with contingent plans to deal with the situation and hence many casualties were recorded. This in line with the New War theory which suggests that hunger in conflict is more pronounced in the new wars because of the identity nature of conflicts as opposed to fighting for public good. In the case of Somalia groups fraternise on religious grounds to take over control of resources and state power. The situation makes humanitarian operations difficult and threaten to cause ‘New Famines’

predicated on attacks of humanitarian workers as postulated by Devereux (Kaldor, 2013). Of the 78000 deaths recorded on each year in 2004 and 2009, only 7% were from direct conflict while 27% was a result of hunger and disease (Kaldor, 2013). It therefore elucidates how conflict affects food security by way of creating groupings that fight for their narrow benefits and using food as a weapon to their enemies. In the New War theory identity is more than a tool but a goal to which groups seek to achieve through access to state resources while relegating others.

45 | P a g e