Colombia appears to be on the brink of peace after more than five decades of bloody civil war that left over a quarter of a million people dead. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, better known as the FARC, and the Colombian government signed a peace deal that ended the longest civil war in the Western Hemisphere. After four years of negotiations, an estimated 7,000 guerrilla fighters pledged to give up their weapons, restart their lives as civilians, and re-brand themselves as a peaceful political group. This large-scale conflict demonstrates the five core ideas about social conflicts: social conflicts are universal and can be beneficial, social conflicts are waged with varying destructiveness, social conflicts entail contested social
…show more content…
Outside of Afghanistan and Iraq, Colombia ranks first in the world in improvised explosive devices (IED) incidents. In addition to kidnapping, in the late 1970s, the FARC began trafficking cocaine to fund its activities, a practice that facilitated its rapid growth throughout the 1980s. The FARC’s newfound wealth and its provision of social services attracted a large number of new members who sought to escape the increasing poverty levels in Colombia. Profits from drug-related activities yielded millions of dollars, allowing the FARC to expand from 6,000 members in 1982 to about 20,000 fighters at their peak in the early 2000s. An estimate released in 2012 by the Colombian Attorney General’s Office put the FARC’s annual income, including drugs and all other illicit activities, at $1.1 billion. The FARC justified their goals and methods of attacks to their cause, which mirrors the core idea that social conflicts entail contested social constructions. While the opposition feels that the methods of the FARC were unjustifiable, the FARC saw it …show more content…
This fifth core idea of social conflict conveys the idea that conflicts move through various stages. The conflict began with preconditions that many dissidents believed would result in conflict. When the FARC did not receive what they felt they deserved, the underlying conflict manifested into a social conflict. Escalating the conflict became the next step as the FARC began increasing the intensity of the conflict in order to meet their objectives. After a protracted period of fighting, the FARC and the Colombian government looked to come to an agreement and de-escalate the conflict. Outside entities mediated the cease fire agreement and eventually convinced both parties to come to a peaceful solution.
Conflict between the FARC and the Colombian government over the last fifty years comprised itself of the five core ideas of social conflict. These ideas maintained relevance throughout the varying intensities of the conflict. Looking at the conflict cycle it forms a sequence of events beginning with a base, emergence, escalation, de-escalation, settlement, and outcomes. It is quite possible that the outcomes of the conflict cycle in Colombia may present the basis for another social
Outside of Afghanistan and Iraq, Colombia ranks first in the world in improvised explosive devices (IED) incidents. In addition to kidnapping, in the late 1970s, the FARC began trafficking cocaine to fund its activities, a practice that facilitated its rapid growth throughout the 1980s. The FARC’s newfound wealth and its provision of social services attracted a large number of new members who sought to escape the increasing poverty levels in Colombia. Profits from drug-related activities yielded millions of dollars, allowing the FARC to expand from 6,000 members in 1982 to about 20,000 fighters at their peak in the early 2000s. An estimate released in 2012 by the Colombian Attorney General’s Office put the FARC’s annual income, including drugs and all other illicit activities, at $1.1 billion. The FARC justified their goals and methods of attacks to their cause, which mirrors the core idea that social conflicts entail contested social constructions. While the opposition feels that the methods of the FARC were unjustifiable, the FARC saw it …show more content…
This fifth core idea of social conflict conveys the idea that conflicts move through various stages. The conflict began with preconditions that many dissidents believed would result in conflict. When the FARC did not receive what they felt they deserved, the underlying conflict manifested into a social conflict. Escalating the conflict became the next step as the FARC began increasing the intensity of the conflict in order to meet their objectives. After a protracted period of fighting, the FARC and the Colombian government looked to come to an agreement and de-escalate the conflict. Outside entities mediated the cease fire agreement and eventually convinced both parties to come to a peaceful solution.
Conflict between the FARC and the Colombian government over the last fifty years comprised itself of the five core ideas of social conflict. These ideas maintained relevance throughout the varying intensities of the conflict. Looking at the conflict cycle it forms a sequence of events beginning with a base, emergence, escalation, de-escalation, settlement, and outcomes. It is quite possible that the outcomes of the conflict cycle in Colombia may present the basis for another social