Social conflict has many dimensions, one of which is the emergence of individuals, the so-called conflict entrepreneurs, who take the necessary and deliberate steps to ignite a violent conflict by utilizing a specific situation or in order to gain something through the exploitation of new power relationship. This by no means conflict entreprenuer's main agenda is to seek personal advantage from the conflict. In the case of Maluku, some people deliberately ignited violent conflicts for the benefit of their comunal identities.

Through a joint-project with the Japan Foundation, Jakarta, in the year 2003/2004 the Interseksi Foundation conducted a preliminary research on the role of conflict entrepreneurs in the then recent violent conflicts in Maluku. The research was mainly aimed as a theoretical exploration on the concept of conflict entrepreneurs and to seek the possibilities to utilize such a concept in analysing conflicts in the region. Now, almost three years later, in his essay, Philips Jusario Vermonte, who himself was the project coordinator of the research and is now pursuing Ph.D in political science in Northern Illinois University, further reflects the phenomenon from a wider perspective. Read the essay>>