How To Destroy A War Economy Prendergast, J. Illicit Wealth, Smuggling, Natural Resources, Corruption Throughout history, war may have been hell, but for small groups of conflict profiteers it has also been very lucrative. Today’s deadliest conflicts in Africa — such as those in Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, northern Nigeria, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo — are sustained by extraordinary opportunities for illicit self-enrichment that emerge in war economies, where there is a visible nexus between grand corruption and the instruments of mass atrocities. State armies and rebels use extreme violence to control natural resources, labor, and smuggling networks. Violence becomes self-financing from pillaging, natural resource looting, and the theft of state assets with connections that extend to New York, London, Dubai, and other global financial centers. Washington, DC Enough Project 2015 2015 Text 7p. iffoadatabase.trustafrica.org/iff/how_to_destroy_a_war_economy.pdf