WHY DO CIVIL WARS HAPPEN? How do dissent and disagreement tip over into war? And is peace, when it comes, ever absolute?

The article examines diverse scholarly perspectives on the causes and dynamics of civil wars, emphasizing their complexity and recurrence. It highlights that civil wars often stem from political illegitimacy, elite competition, and grievances over governance rather than solely ethnic or economic factors. Historical patterns, such as those observed in ancient Rome and modern African conflicts, suggest that civil wars tend to breed further civil wars, with prior conflict increasing the likelihood of future strife. Additionally, civil wars are shaped by contextual factors including state capacity, political polarization, and social divisions, while recognizing that armed conflict is ultimately a choice made by political actors and their supporters.