conflictrich

Conflictrich is a term used in political economy and security studies to describe a pattern in which certain actors accumulate wealth, influence, or attention as a consequence of conflict, instability, or ongoing insecurity. It emphasizes incentives that reward participation in or exploitation of conflict rather than its peaceful resolution.

The concept has been applied to analyze how wars, civil unrest, and geopolitical tensions can create favorable conditions for particular actors, including defense contractors, state security services, and media organizations. It also encompasses legal and illicit channels such as post-conflict reconstruction contracts, sanctions regimes, humanitarian aid flows, and illicit economies that prosper in crisis environments.

Mechanisms commonly cited under conflictrich include: surges in defense and security spending, privatization and outsourcing of public functions in unstable environments, concentration of media revenues through crisis reporting, and governance vacuums that enable rent-seeking and asset appropriation. Actors frequently discussed include governments, multinational firms, armed groups, political elites, and crisis-driven media entities.

Criticism of the concept centers on its potential to oversimplify complex causal factors, overstate the profitability of conflict, and risk legitimizing violence. Proponents argue that it highlights incentives that sustain conflict and the need for safeguards, transparency, and institutions that reward peace and reconstruction. Related ideas include disaster capitalism, conflict capitalism, rent-seeking, and securitization.

See also: conflict capitalism, disaster capitalism, rent-seeking, securitization.