International Relations: The Kimberley Process and the Global Governance of Conflict Diamonds
Yes, many consider the United Nations and its well-developed array of international institutions to be our current and future prospect for global governance. However, thinking of the concept this formally fails to acknowledge the difference between two words: Governance and Government. The issue of conflict diamonds illustrates this difference and highlights the formality of government as opposed to the ad hoc, informal, inclusive and plural nature of governance.
The international trade of conflict diamonds has been a relevant issue in global affairs since the 1950s. Conflict diamonds are often extracted or stolen from mining operations and traded to fund inter- and intra-state violent conflict. Most notably, the proceeds from the illicit trade of diamonds have played an important financial role in perpetuating the actions of rebel groups during the civil wars of Angola (1975–2002) and Sierra Leone (1991–2002), among others. At the heart of this issue is the complex linkage between natural resources and violent conflict. Amnesty International has estimated that 3.7 million deaths were linked, either directly or indirectly, to the proceeds from conflict diamonds (Grant 162–3).
The solution exemplifies the efficacy of global governance initiatives where state-centred solutions fail to achieve adequate understanding of the issues or sustainability of the response. The solution to the problem of the conflict diamond trade was developed over more than a dozen meetings over the course of two-and-a-half years in Kimberley, South Africa. At Kimberley, Industry, governments, and NGOs worked together in consensus-based processes to develop a governance framework. The ‘Kimberley Process’ (KP) created an “overarching regulatory agreement that would oversee the international trade in rough diamonds” that included the 2003 implementation of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) (2012). Countries who participate in the KPCS agree to monitor the mining and international trade of diamonds and to submit to the KP Secretariat statistics on diamond production, exports, imports, and the number of certificates issued. Member states must also allow KP representatives from industry, NGOs, and government to assess their KPCS implementation success. This success is seen in Sierra Leone, where over 90% of diamond production was historically smuggled out of the country. The KPCS has substantially increased the proportion of rough diamonds exported through government channels now providing US$5–7 million in export duties (168).
The KP’s approach is relatively new in the area of global affairs and stands as a model for future global governance initiatives with multiple stakeholder groups. Specifically, the KP’s consensus-based decision-making leverages the diplomatic power of states, the research capabilities and ‘watchdog’ nature of NGOs, and the technical expertise of industry. Global solutions to problems with several actors require such a process to be developed and implemented sustainably. Thus, the KP illustrates an innovative demonstration of global governance and multi-track diplomacy. As argued by J. Andrew Grant, “Diamonds are a unique case … but not so unique that the KP ‘recipe’ cannot inform other initiatives” (175). Central to this ‘recipe’ is the inclusion of government, industry, and civil society in all phases of negotiation and implementation to devise a working governance framework.
While the KP remains an evolving solution to conflict diamonds, other analogous issues have arisen. For example, similar to historic rebel groups, non-state armed actors like ISIS and Boko Haram are reliant on natural resource extraction and cross-border trade to fund their political goals. While the KPCS may not directly apply, the method of the Kimberley Process is an important model for governance of complex global networks involving a plurality of global actors.
Cited: J. Andrew Grant. 2012. The Kimberley Process at Ten: Reflections on a Decade of Efforts to End the Trade in Conflict Diamonds. In High-Value Natural Resources and Peacebuilding, ed. P. Lujala and S. A. Rustad. London: Earthscan.
