Guatemala Civil War

As a matter of scholarship, civil wars lack the extensive breadth and volume of study that interstate conflict enjoys in international relations. This is especially surprising considering the remarkable longevity and death toll associated with intrastate wars. The most populous Central American country, a post-colonial representative democracy named the Republic of Guatemala is a nation of sixteen and a half million people that had been wrought with socio-political and military conflicts stemming from the economic and ethnic backgrounds of its citizens. The resulting civil war was one of the most enduring and deadly military contests on the American continent. The fighting between the government and rebel groups lasted over thirty-six years.

This is especially surprising considering the remarkable longevity and death toll associated with intrastate wars. The most populous Central American country, a post-colonial representative democracy named the Republic of Guatemala is a nation of sixteen and a half million people that had been wrought with socio-political and military conflicts stemming from the economic and ethnic backgrounds of its citizens. The resulting civil war was one of the most enduring and deadly military contests on the American continent. The fighting between the government and rebel groups lasted over thirty-six years. From 1960-1996, nearly one and a half million indigenous tribesmen and women were displaced, reported rapes exceeded one hundred thousand, and over two hundred thousand of the remaining indigenous population were murdered. The costs to the government and its citizens were catastrophic. In spite of the limited scholarship, there are several prominent theories that could explain the inordinate duration of the Guatemalan Civil War including: economic opportunity, a narrowed bargaining range, veto players, ethno-nationalist policies/ethno-political exclusion, and third-party mediator