Hendrik Spruyt gives an all-inclusive exploration of the effects of civil wars, especially on the current universal system. The writer maintains that most civil wars have resulted in the international system’s significant challenges. These challenges include human misery, displacement of people, worldwide insecurity issues, and political instability among countries. In his opening paragraph, Spruyt emphasizes the rise in civil wars over the past few decades and the devastation they have caused to societies, economies, and regional stability (Spruyt, 2017). The limitations of the Westphalian model of state sovereignty, which holds that states have exclusive use of force within their borders, are then discussed. The essay will therefore offer a dire analysis of the article.
Spruyt starts by investigating the past progression of the global structure and how it responded to the various civil wars. The writer is keen to note that in the preceding late 19th century, the global system was mainly fixated on the internal conflicts of a country. Nonetheless, with the increase of intra-state wars during the post-colonial period, international relations between countries have been challenged. These wars mainly occur due to ideological, religious, or ethnic differences.
Spruyt claims that these civil wars experienced in countries undermine countries even economically. Furthermore, the cohesiveness spirit amongst people is broken because people thrive on spreading extremism and violence (Kim, 2019). He further maintains that civil wars break the state institutions, giving rise to warlords who form gangs and spread criminal activities. In return, these warlords destabilize countries’ dominance, creating safety risks for the bordering regions and countries.
The writer also denotes how civil wars lead to a humanitarian crisis. When there are wars in countries, many people tend to migrate, displacing people. Some become refugees and frequently lack basic survival needs such as food, shelter, clothing, and good healthcare. Furthermore, civil wars make people’s lives even harder because there is massive destruction of property like infrastructure, houses, and technology that simplifies human life.
Moreover, Spruyt maintains that civil wars result in worldwide security issues. Many terrorist groups are formed during the civil war period spreading tension among people. During civil wars, state institutions and governments break, creating an authority vacuum that is, in most cases, exploited by terrorist groups. When these groups get an ambiance to carry out their illegal activities, they create laws and enforce their philosophical agendas. Spruyt denotes that an example of an aftermath of civil wars is in Syria and Iraq, where the Islamic extremist group rose and has had an adverse effect, especially on security issues in these countries (Kim, 2019).
Spruyt stresses the significance of resolving the fundamental issues that lead to civil wars, such as identity-based disputes, political and economic exclusion, and resource access complaints. He contends that resolving these fundamental problems is essential for establishing lasting peace and stability and that the international community should seek to support regional efforts to do so. He talks about how civil wars might be resolved and how new technology, including social media and other digital communication methods, might affect this (Spruyt, 2017). He contends that while these technologies may present new chances for mitigating and avoiding conflict, they also bring new risks and difficulties that demand attention.
The connection between civil conflicts and globalization is another topic in Spruyt’s article. He contends that globalization has made accessing financial support, communication technology, and weapons easier for conflict actors. As a result, more actors are now involved in civil wars, increasing the complexity and likelihood of outside meddling.
Besides, Spruyt maintains that the native background limits the efficacy of overseas involvement in every post-conflict setting. The native background can include social and political aspects and worldwide assistance (Sisk, 2022). The author claims that an active post-war restoration and a new restructured state require careful consideration of the native setting and the aptitude to speak out all the roots of conflicts.
Moreover, Spruyt underscores some of the obstacles linked to the state restructuring. These challenges are crucial because they help maintain stability and long-term peace, especially in all areas prone to these civil wars. He further continues to highlight that international organizations and responsible governments play a significant role in promoting peace and curbing all manner of violence (Sisk, 2022). In addition, Spruyt stresses the necessity of a different contextualized methodology that ensures all the social and political issues countries face are addressed.
In conclusion, the writer interrogates the conformist knowledge of a state-centric method to global affairs and further highlights the implication of an extra-discussed and adaptive tactic that prevents conflicts and solves conflicts by highlighting all the modern-day conflicts through the multifaceted ideology (Spruyt, 2017). Therefore Spruyt offers a thorough study of the problems that civil wars cause for the international order and offers intuitive facts concerning the complex changing aspects of these civil wars. He has provided clear responsiveness of the primary glitches and the importance of acknowledging new technology as it significantly prevents conflicts. He further recommends digitalizing the international system mandated to tackle international conflicts to address all war-related issues.
References
Kim, S. S. (2019). Taiwan and the international system: the challenge of legitimation. In Taiwan in world affairs (pp. 145–189). Routledge.
Sisk, T. D. (2022). Power sharing after civil wars: matching problems to solutions (pp. 407–425). Springer International Publishing.
Spruyt, H. (2017). Civil wars as challenges to the modern international system. Dædalus, 146(4), 112-125.
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