ABM is combined with GIS to develop a state-level model of conflict. By adding simple behavior that is grounded in theory into the agents modeled, we can gain a better understanding of the underlying processes responsible for the macro-level patterns. Sierra Leone, which endured nearly 10 years of civil war, provides the case study for which this model is implemented. The ease of accessibility to the country’s most abundant resource (diamonds) is said to have provided the funding needed to sustain the insurgency over the years. Using GIS to create a realistic landscape and theories of conflict to ground agent behavior, this model explores Le Billon's (2001) theory.

Below I show a typical run of the model where conflict is widespread across the southern region and parts of the north. The agents are colored red or blue, red being rebels and blue being miners.

Visualization of the geographic shift of the conflict towards the south, especially Cauca. A resurgence of the conflict in one northern department, Antioquia (which was one of the deadliest departments in the 1990s – capital is Medellin).