Is Coca Worth Killing For? Natural Resources and Civil Conflict Intensity: The Shining Path in Peru
This paper focuses on the effect natural resources have on the intensity ofcivil conflict in the context of states developing natural resource and counterinsurgency policies. This paper conducts a comparative within-country case study to test the relationship between natural resources and civil conflict intensity. Through a comparative within-country case study, the effect of coca cultivation on the intensity of Peru’s civil war is examined to test the hypothesis that natural resources cause more intense civil conflict. This hypothesis is deemed plausible, as evidence is used to test three causal mechanisms: natural resources provide insurgents with wealth, increase the “prize value” of a region, and draw more international attention and intervention. These mechanisms are confirmed for the case of Peru, and a fourth, and initially unexpected, mechanism emerges.