1 - Diamonds after Blood?

Summary

The Kimberley Process is a weak international agreement, so why have states expended scarce resources to stay in compliance? This is the puzzle that will be laid out in the introductory chapter of this book, along with a discussion about the history and nature of the international agreement. The chapter discusses the importance of the diamond trade to the development of many states in Africa. While De Beers has long dominated the global diamond trade, the Kimberley Process was implemented in the early 2000s when the firm was starting to lose market share. Thus, other actors in the global diamond trade are examined, specifically Lev Leviev, who has made inroads into the diamond sector in many of the states examined in this study. The chapter also studies the diamond trade in Africa as a mode of exchange and questions whether the Kimberley Process has influenced this. .