Writing Assignment 3: Civil War

In The Bottom Billion, Paul Collier defines a civil war as an armed conflict, involving different political groups. It entails contending factions that are appropriately alike, rendering an outcome indeterminate (Collier, 2007). Military expeditions encompass a weaponized struggle between powerful entities against isolated and powerless persons. Interventions comprise fights between a small state and an authoritative nation, while rebellions entail an internal group contesting a controlling government. With a strong confrontation, such incidents, may amount to a civil war.

A civil war keeps a country poor, highlighting the relationship between the conflict trap and the bottom billion. According to Collier (2007), 73% of the bottom billion reside in countries that have been in or are currently under a civil war. A civil war curtails economic development by encouraging brain drain, prompting intelligent citizens to leave with their private capital, frightening off investors, and by letting a few people monopolize a...