Page 51 - MDSL Final

THE SPECTRUM OF CONFLICT
• Interest Based Conflict. A conflict arising from a
dispute over trade, resources, international or regional
status is considered to be interest based.
Iran-Iraq War over Oil in the Persian Gulf (1980 - 1988)

The War began on 22 September 1980, when Iraq
invaded Iran and it terminated on 20 August 1988, when
Iraq accepted the UN-brokered ceasefire. The war also
followed a long history of border disputes and Iraq planned
to annex the oil-rich Khuzestan Province and the east bank
of the Arvand Rud (Shatt al-Arab).

• Value Based Conflict. A conflict arising from a dispute
relating to territory or resulting from religious or ethnic
rivalry can be considered to be value based.
The Conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia (1998 - 2018)

The Eritrean-Ethiopian War, one of the conflicts in the
Horn of Africa, took place between Ethiopia and Eritrea
from May 1998 to June 2000, with the final peace only
agreed to in 2018. Eritrea and Ethiopia, two of the world’s
poorest countries, spent hundreds of millions of dollars
on the war. It had suffered tens of thousands of casualties
as a direct result of the conflict, where only minor border
changes resulted.

Military Response to Conflict

Military response to conflict will require armed forces to be deployed
according to the level of the conflict. Here we have to understand that
during peace, armed forces are deployed to carryout military activities
in peace. When there is conflict other than war the armed forces are
deployed for operations other than war.

At the same time when there is a regional conflict, limited war or general
war, the armed forces will be deployed for war fighting. It is therefore
useful to consider conflict as a spectrum.

To Nurture a Stable Environment at Sea 33