Making peace with war? A research about the effect of third- party intervention in Colombia
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2016-04-18
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en
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In this thesis the United States “War on Drugs” intervention through “Plan Colombia” is taken as a case study to illustrate the effect of unilateral partisan third- party interventions on the political, economic, and military power of most important actors in armed intrastate conflicts. Realist theory, with power as a central concept, is at the core of the research. According to realists, actors will only choose to undertake an action if they expect this will strengthen their position relative to the status quo. One can therefore argue that the United States intervention was carried out with the goal to increase the power of the Colombian government and to decrease the power of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC). The effectiveness of the intervention is determined by its effect on the power of the FARC and the Colombian government. By using the research method of process- tracing, it is found that the “War on Drugs” intervention caused an increase in the power of the Colombian government. The presence of a causal relation between the intervention and the power of the FARC, on the other hand, is less clear. The thesis illustrates that the focus of the “War on Drugs” and “Plan Colombia” on coca eradication is too limited. The “War on Drugs” can only be won and the Colombian conflict can only be solved if the economic, social, and political problems are also addressed.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen