Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Click here to sign up for SAGE Journal Email Alerts today!

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Journal of Conflict Resolution
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Data Set
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Web of Science (1)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Buhaug, H.
Right arrow Articles by Lujala, P.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Geography, Rebel Capability, and the Duration of Civil Conflict

Halvard Buhaug

Centre for the Study of Civil War (CSCW) International Peace Research Institute (PRIO), Oslo, Norway

Scott Gates

Centre for the Study of Civil War (CSCW) International Peace Research Institute (PRIO), Oslo, Norway, Department of Sociology and Political Science Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim

Päivi Lujala

Department of Economics Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim Centre for the Study of Civil War (CSCW) International Peace Research Institute PRIO, Oslo, Norway

Why do some armed civil conflicts last longer than others? Drawing on a contest success function model, we show that geographic factors (such as location, terrain, and natural resources) interact with rebel fighting capacity and together play a crucial role in determining the duration of conflict. Using precisely dated duration data in event history models and geographic data for the conflict location, we find that conflicts located at considerable distance from the main government stronghold, along remote international borders and in regions with valuable minerals last substantially longer. In addition, we find that rebel military capacity in its own right increases the prospects of a civil conflict ending within a short time period. Our findings imply that the distances an army must travel to project power, rebel fighting capacity, and characteristics of conflict region affect how a civil war is fought and who will prevail.

Key Words: geography • civil war • disaggregation • duration • resources

Journal of Conflict Resolution, Vol. 53, No. 4, 544-569 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0022002709336457
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Journal of Conflict ResolutionHome page
L.-E. Cederman and K. S. Gleditsch
Introduction to Special Issue on "Disaggregating Civil War"
Journal of Conflict Resolution, August 1, 2009; 53(4): 487 - 495.
[Abstract] [PDF]