Self-sustainment dynamics in armed groups systems: Understanding the post–Havana Agreement conflict in Colombia

Despite the demobilisation of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), armed groups continue to exist in Colombia perpetuating conflict and violence, many of them motivated by the profits of illicit economies, including narco-trafficking. As a contribution to explanations on the continuity of internal conflict, this article explains the idea of ‘self-sustainment dynamics’ in a system of armed groups and structures, with Colombia as a case study. It assumes that the post-FARC scenario of armed agents needs to be observed as a complex adaptive system where several types of armed structures come together. It argues that self-sustainment dynamics are a consequence of the reaccommodation of structures within the system as they adapt to stimuli from the environment and to key decision and actions of individuals within the structures. It seeks to motivate comparisons with other cases of internal conflict where illicit economies have a significant weight.