I am very happy that everyone watched Blood Diamond last Sunday because I think, although it is gruesome, it is a very important topic and relates deeply to World Politics. I have seen this movie at least three times, yet this time, I took the time to look up some facts. In Sierra Leone, the diamond industry spurns civil wars, allowing the RUF, Revoluntionary United Front, to invade parts of Sierra Leone. The RUF, with their leader Sankoh, wanted to overthrow the government in order to achieve social democracy, free education and healthcare, and equal profit from diamond mining. This group is now known for its ten years of incredible violence and torture against the people of Sierra Leone, including amputations, rape, and murder, killing an estimate of 200,000 people(1). Sankoh controlled the diamond trade, smuggling diamonds into Liberia and exporting them from there. Like we saw in the movie, the RUF captured children from their villages and trained them to shoot their own family members, along with providing them with cocaine and marijuana. Girls were captured to act as prostitutes for the soldiers. In 200, Sankoh and his troops held 500 UN peacekeepers hostage and in 2001, eventually he was captured and the atrocities of the RUF stopped(1).

In some parts of the world, the diamond industry has helped the economy of the country, which is great, and therefore a wonderful way to support, but in many countries, civil wars are still claiming the lives of thousands of people. I hope that anyone who has seen the movie will research where a diamond comes from before they buy it, or for that matter, almost anything. It is so easy to avoid funding something horrible like this.

Much of government today is controlled by rebels, and it always has been this way. This is an important part in International Relations, because no matter how much we talk about international law and policy, there are always 'rebel' groups who are not following the same set of laws. This and an economic 'advance' like diamonds led to civil war in Sierra Leone.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutionary_United_Front