BLOOD Diamonds?

Question

I'm doing a project and at the minute, I'm just doing my project plan. I'm stuck already. I'm doing it about 'Conflict/Blood diamonds in Ivory Coast'. What do you think the geographical factors are? and more so, 'What does geograpical factors cover or mean'?

Answer 1

Geographical factors in this case would mean how the government, people, and economy of Ivory Coast relate to other national governments and the world economy. So, some geographical factors of the blood diamond trade would be Western (American, European, elite) demand for diamonds, which give the stones a high price, or the historical legacy of colonialism in West Africa that produced unstable governments and underdeveloped economies based on resource extraction for (again) Western, elite consumption.

These geographical factors have created a condition in which 1) the Ivorian government is unstable, and civil war exists as different forces struggle for political power; and, 2) these struggles are financed in large part by the trade of blood diamonds, which is quite lucrative because of elite demand for diamonds. Hope this helps, it's an interesting topic for a project.

Also, Tony's example above is a good example of some geographic factors (not sure why it got a thumbs down...): foreign investment withdrawing, a hub in the trade between Liberia and Sierra Leone, the UN... all good examples!

Answer 2

Blood diamonds (a.k.a. conflict diamonds) come from places that are controlled by factions opposed to different types of governments. They are sold to fund military action in opposition to those governments. These diamonds haven't been certified by the market. Instead, they are smuggled and are directly shipped to different countries to be sold for money. They are produced through the forced labor of men, women, and children. Some countries that produce blood diamonds are: Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Angola. A process, known as the Kimberly Process, is formulated to obstruct the entry of conflict diamonds to the market. If you are interested, there is a movie, called Blood Diamond, that illustrates this issue. Hope this helps!

Answer 3

"A blood diamond (also called a conflict diamond or a war diamond) is a diamond mined in a war zone and sold, usually clandestinely, in order to finance an insurgent or invading army's war efforts."

"Ivory Coast

The Ivory Coast began to develop a fledgling diamond mining industry in the 1990s. A coup overthrew the government in 1999, starting a civil war. The country became a route for exporting diamonds from Liberia and war torn Sierra Leone.[7][8] Foreign investment began to withdraw from the Ivory Coast. To curtail the illicit trade, the nation stopped all diamond mining, and the UN Security Council banned all exports of diamonds from the Ivory Coast in December 2005."

I get the impression that the amount of publicity this subject has had in recent years has led to a reduction in this evil trade.