By Paul Goldsmith

Conflict is a form of disorder intrinsic to developmental processes. The impacts of violent conflict on economy and governance represent both a set of costs and specific indicators of serious problems on different levels of the system. Pastoralist conflict has evolved from a source of positive feedback reinforcing perceptions of pastoralism as a static and anti-modern mode of production to a critical source of negative (or system-changing) feedback for contemporary socioeconomic processes proceeding on different system scales. Pastoralist exclusion and the militarized responses resulting from it are a potentially destabilizing force across the region; but as a source of negative feedback pastoralist conflicts have exposed state policy biases, highlighted issues of resource management, reaffirmed the instrumental value of indigenous cultural institutions, and contributed to the increasing involvement of regional and supra-state organizations working with local civil society organization partners.