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The fatal attraction of civil war economies: foreign direct investment and political violence. A case study of Colombia

Maher, DJ

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Abstract

Civil war acutely inhibits economic growth, according to a prominent set of civil war literature. However, recent scholarship observes that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), considered a central vehicle of growth, is entering countries with internal armed conflicts unabated. Furthermore, some civil war economies exhibit substantial increases in FDI during conflict. According to this scholarship, FDI enters conflict zones in spite of violence. This article contrastingly adopts a critical framework acknowledging the often violent characteristics of globalised capitalism. By analysing Colombia’s oil industry (the country’s largest sector of FDI), this article suggests that civil war violence can create conditions that facilitate FDI inflows. More specifically, this article posits that violence perpetrated by armed groups sympathetic to the interests of the oil sector – namely, the public armed forces and right-wing paramilitaries – have facilitated FDI in Colombia’s oil sector. In particular, processes of forced displacement and violence against civilian groups have served to protect economically important infrastructure and have acquired land for oil exploration. Moreover, civilian groups deemed inimical to oil interests have been violently targeted. By using disaggregate-level data on the conflict in Arauca, an important oil producing region of Colombia, this case study indicates that intensifying levels of civil war violence in areas of economic interest are followed by increases in oil production, exploration and investment.

Citation

Maher, D. (2015). The fatal attraction of civil war economies: foreign direct investment and political violence. A case study of Colombia. International Studies Review, 17(2), 217-248. https://doi.org/10.1111/misr.12218

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Nov 17, 2014
Publication Date Jun 18, 2015
Deposit Date Jan 16, 2015
Publicly Available Date Jul 1, 2017
Journal International Studies Review
Print ISSN 1521-9488
Publisher Oxford University Press
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 17
Issue 2
Pages 217-248
DOI https://doi.org/10.1111/misr.12218
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/misr.12218

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