Civil disturbances are events of a nature intended to disrupt everyday law and order. They can be momentary displays of an ideological nature or disapproval, or intended to have long term and long lasting impact on society as a whole. They are most often acts of civilian unrest targeting authority figures, such as government officials. The government in turn can deploy forces to put the crowd under control if they are becoming a threat to public safety. Example of civil disturbances include events ranging from riots and looting to intentional acts of terrorism against military and civilian targets. Whatever they may be, they tend to be in a nature that is harmful in one way or another to one group or another.
When it pertains to US forces and their partners around the globe, there are many threats to be faced. Among the many threats are civil disturbances. The sources for these civil disturbances are wide ranging, and have been documented after years of experience in terms of studying this phenomenon and the reasons for why it occurs. Factors that contribute to the causation of a civil disturbance range from a shift in economic balance from one region to another, causing economic woes that have the potential to inflame a region due to widespread dissatisfaction, the scarcity or unequal distribution of adequate natural resources and the inability of people to satisfy basic human needs, differences in regards to perceptions as to human rights, religion and political ideology. It is an undeniable fact of human history that people will want injustices, whether real or perceived, to dealt with by authorities before taking matters into their own hands. US forces can act or refuse to act on these grievances, and therefore this comes bearing potential consequences that can lead to escalating situations of civil unrest.
CIVIL UNREST
- The factors that contribute to different classifications of civil unrest such as demonstrations, public disorder and riots include economic instability, social strife, differences in cultural opinions between ethnicities that can lead to conflict or oppression between or within one or more groups, the dislike of certain international organizations and their mandate, or a certain government either in the country where the civil unrest is happening or in another country, political differences and terrorism, other types of man made catastrophes and natural disasters. The conflict in the Balkans during the 1990’s, for example, had a combination of factors that contributed to it’s breakout. These consisted of hatred between ethnic groups, the non-existence of functioning civilian authorities to properly govern the population, lack of an adequate food supply to feed the population, revolutions and uprisings, and paramilitary organizations fighting for religious reasons.