Ethnicity, insurgency and civil war stanford university. Ethnicity, insurgency, and civil war university of kent. A wide range of variation in parameter estimates makes accurate predictions of war onset difficult, and differences in empirical results are greater with respect to war continuation. An influential conventional wisdom holds that civil wars proliferated rapidly with the end of the cold war and that the root cause of many or most of these has been ethnic and religious antagonisms. An insurgency is a rebellion against an authority by people who dont qualify as belligerents, while a civil war is a fight between two organizations that both have a claim on authority and legitimacy. Laitin and fearon 2003 ethnicity, insurgency, and civil war civil war is about opportunity factors rather than grievances or ethnic fractionalization. The conditions that favor insurgencyin particular, state weakness marked by poverty, a large population, and instabilityare better predictors of which countries are at risk for civil war than are indicators of ethnic and religious diversity or measures of grievances such as economic inequality, lack of democracy or civil liberties, or. Historical examination of insurgency as a political and military enterprise. These and subsequent civil war statistics are based on an updated version of the civil war list used in james d. Ethnicity, insurgency, and civil war revisited citeseerx. These insurgents may be ethnic chauvinists, but they could equally. The terms civil war and revolution refer to conflict situations and internal turmoil within a given country. Ethnicity, insurgency, and civil war is chapter 25 of the book the contemporary conflict resolution reader, edited by hugh miall, tom woodhouse, oliver ramsbotham, and christopher mitchell and published by polity armed conflict may appear to be in long term decline, but the intractability and destructiveness of contemporary conflicts make conflict resolution as urgent.
Briggs in the law of nations 1952 described the traditional point of view as follows the existence of civil war or. It is much easier to contemplate such a task in the secure knowledge that poor countries are not destined for civil war just because they happen to be ethnically diverse. Laitin stanford university an influential conventional wisdom holds that civil wars proliferated rapidly with the end of the cold war and that the root cause of many or most of these has been ethnic and religious antagonisms. Linking instrumentalist and primordialist theories of. Conceptual and empirical complexities of an operational definition, journal of. Pdf ethnicity, insurgency, and civil war magda chorvatova. According to fearon and laitin, civil wars including the subcategory they designate as ethnic wars arise in states that lack sufficient capacity to.
While there are some similarities between the two concepts, we cannot overlook some key differences that prevent us from interchanging the terms. The military responded with brutality, leading the country to civil war. Ethnicity, insurgency, and civil war february 2003 policing or inept and corrupt counterinsurgency practices. Both the korean war and vietnam war began as civil wars but ended up drawing in resources from the us and soviet union. Ethnicity, political grievances and the end of the cold war have historically been cited as factors leading to civil wars. To set a reading intention, click through to any list item, and look for the panel on the left hand side. Jun 01, 2016 esteban, joan, laura mayoral and debraj ray. The internal conflict in myanmar is a series of primarily ethnic conflicts within myanmar that began shortly after the country, then known as burma, became independent from the united kingdom in 1948.
Fsi the europe center ethnicity, insurgency, and civil war. Pdf ethnicity, insurgency, and civil war carreellon. Ethnicity, insurgency, and civil war is chapter 25 of the book the contemporary conflict resolution reader, edited by hugh miall, tom woodhouse, oliver ramsbotham, and christopher mitchell and published by polity. However, civil conflict can be viewed in terms of insurgency that is characterised by small, lightly armed groups engaged in guerilla warfare from rural bases. The conflict is the worlds longest ongoing civil war. Antipoverty program reduces violence in civil conflicts. Ethnicity, insurgency, and civil war university of essex. Psychology of participation in insurgency small wars journal.
Ethnicity and civil war elaine k denny, barbara f walter, 2014. Atrocities 19921998 the islamist insurgency that began in 1992 struggled to maintain a unified front, but its weaknesses were further exploited and exacerbated by the governments tactics. In traditional international law, insurgency was not recognized as belligerency, and insurgents lacked the protection customarily extended to belligerents. There is a powerful conventional wisdom about armed conflict and civil war in. Pdf ethnicity, insurgency, and civil war carreellon bensi. We show that the current prevalence of internal war is mainly the result of a steady accumulation of protracted conflicts since the 1950s and 1960s rather than a sudden change. Linking instrumentalist and primordialist theories of ethnic.
No book about burmas civil war quite rivals this for its detail and scope, nor has the author an equal for the depth of his research and his grasp of the war s ethnic complexities. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. What is the difference between an insurgency and a civil war. The conclusion outlines possible future directions for research on civil wars. Ethnicity and civil war elaine k denny, barbara f walter. The term is a calque of the latin bellum civile which was used to refer to the various civil wars of the roman. Like a revolution, a civil war engages broad popular participation and, therefore, raises considerably the level of violence used by both sides. What is civil war conceptual and empirical complexities of. This work was supported by the center for statistics and the social sciences at.
Fearon and laitin have detailed their findings in a paper titled ethnicity, insurgency and civil war that will be published early next year in. We show that the current prevalence of internal war is mainly the result of a steady accumulation of protracted. The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region or to change government policies. Over the course of the 20th century, the deaths from civil wars as defined by prioupsala dataset first spike at the end of the first world war, and flare up again in the interwar years as well as the end of the second world war. For instance, collier and hoeffler, greed and grievance in civil war.
Pdf ethnicity, insurgency, and civil war researchgate. Iraqs postsaddam insurgency council on foreign relations. Kevin quinn michael hechter erik wibbels may 6, 2003. Why do some civil wars last so much longer than others. Armed conflict may appear to be in long term decline, but the intractability and destructiveness of contemporary conflicts make conflict resolution as urgent and. Policeandcounterinsurgent weakness, we argue, is proxied by a low per capita in.
Inclusive institutions and stability of transition toward. If a civil war begins, it is more likely to be initiated by an ethnic group than any other type of group. Asked in afghanistan, terrorism, history of islam when did taliban insurgency happen. Largen regression finds outbreak of civil war correlated with opportunity factors for insurgency poverty, political instability, large population, mountainous terrain and not ethnic or. The empirical literature on civil war has seen tremendous growth because of the compilation of quantitative data sets, but there is no consensus on the measurement of civil war. These two graphs show precisely how the number of civil wars increased from the end of the second world war before peaking in the 1990s and the distribution of conflict lengths. Pdf an influential conventional wisdom holds that civil wars proliferated rapidly with the end of the cold war and that the root cause of many.
We show that the current prevalence of internal war is mainly the result of a steady accumulation of protracted conflicts since the 1950s and 1960s rather than a sudden. Laitin date 20032 volume 97 issue 01 page start 75 page end 90 doi 10. An influential conventional wisdom holds that civil wars proliferated rapidly with the end of the cold war and that the root cause of many or most of these has been ethnic nationalism. Ethnicity, insurgency, and civil war american political. Working paper series 200201, centre for the study of african economies, oxford 2 fearon, j. Were this so, one would expect political democracies.
These include poverty, which marks financially and bureaucratically weak states and also favors rebel recruitment, political instability, rough terrain, and large populations. Paul collier, doing well out of war in greed and grievance. Ethnicity, insurgency, and civil war volume 97 issue 1 james d. His research focuses on political violence interstate, civil, and ethnic conflict in particular although he has also worked on aspects of democratic theory and the impact of democracy on foreign policy. By contrast, in a typical insurgency the rebel minority challenges the forces defending the government amidst a population initially involved only to a limited extent on either side. Ethnicity, insurgency, and civil war coauthored with david laitin. No book about burmas civil war quite rivals this for its detail and scope, nor has the author an equal for the depth of his research and his grasp of the wars. Ethnicity, insurgency, and civil war american political science. To test the effects of ethnicity on conflict, fearon and laitin use the ethnolinguistic. The conditions that favor insurgency in particular, state weakness marked by poverty, a large population, and instabilityare better predictors of which countries are at risk for civil war than are indicators of ethnic and religious diversity or measures of grievances such as economic inequality, lack of democracy or civil liberties, or. Insurgency and the politics of ethnic conflict politics in contemporary asia series. The factors that explain which countries have been at risk for civil war are not their ethnic or religious characteristics but rather the conditions that favor insurgency.
Citeseerx document details isaac councill, lee giles, pradeep teregowda. Fearon and laitin looked at 127 civil wars from 1945 to 1999, most often. Pdf ethnicity, insurgency, and civil war semantic scholar. Fearon is theodore and frances geballe professor in the school of humanities and sciences and professor of political science at stanford university. These often include a propensity for brutal and indiscriminate retaliation that helps drive noncombatantlocalsintorebelforces. Paul collier, on the economic consequences of civil war, oxford economic papers, 51, 1999, pp. See fearon and laitin, ethnicity, insurgency, and civil war. Laitin stanford university an influential conventional wisdom holds that civil wars proliferated rapidly with the end of the cold war and that the root cause of many or most of. Difference between civil war and revolution difference. We argue that ethnic groups, on average, are likely to have more grievances against the state, are likely to have an easier time organizing support and mobilizing a movement, and are more likely to face difficulttoresolve bargaining problems. What is civil war conceptual and empirical complexities. Using a definition of civil war that requires a certain threshold of casualties in fighting between governments and organized groups seeking either to control the state or. Without ad hoc rules to code its start and end and differentiate it from other violence, it is difficult, if not impossible, to define and measure civil war.