Civil War Duration
The second phase of a civil war after onset is duration. There is substantial research on the factors that affect the duration of conflict (Collier, Hoeffel, and Soderblom 2004; Collier and Hoeffel 1998; Ross 2004b; Snyder 2004; Walter 2004). In a review of 13 cases of civil war that involved resources, researchers found that illicit drugs were not linked to the onset of conflict but were strongly linked to the duration of conflict (Ross 2004a). One factor is the lawlessness that civil war produces (Quinn, Mason, and Gurses 2007). Drug cultivators are able to increase their cultivation without fear of the authorities, which directly benefits the rebels who are taxing the cultivators. In Afghanistan, 2001, opium production was at 8,000 hectares, but by 2007, opium cultivation reached its peak at 193,000 hectares (United Nations 2010). When a rebel army is deriving funding from drug cultivation there is an increase in drug production which enables them to fight longer.