Blood diamonds and non-state actors

During the 1990s and into the 2000s, rebel armies in several African countries-bereft of the great-power backing that proliferated during the Cold War-began to finance their efforts through the illegal exploitation of natural resources. While he controlled the Port of Buchanan, for example, Liberian warlord Charles Taylor sold tropical hardwood and even iron ore to eager and unprincipled international buyers. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), rebel armies are still looting gold, tantalum, tin, and tungsten. Diamonds, however, were central to the funding of the most brutal and protracted wars in a generation.