Abstract
This article seeks to account for the variation in the trajectory of conflict in the context of peripheral civil wars by emphasizing the importance of rebel-population ties. In examining the trajectory of peripheral civil wars, it expands the range of outcomes traditionally examined in the literature. The empirical validity of the theoretical argument is tested using a new data set of 166 rebel groups involved in 58 peripheral insurgencies between 1960 and 2010. I trace social embeddedness of rebel groups to pre-war political processes and institutions. Rebel groups are coded on six characteristics to create a 7-point rebel-type scale as a measure of their embeddedness in the population. The results provide support to the argument that the social embeddedness of a rebel group exercises a significant effect on the trajectory of peripheral civil wars. However, the substantive effect of embeddedness on some outcomes is more pronounced than on others.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1470-1500 |
| Number of pages | 31 |
| Journal | Comparative Political Studies |
| Volume | 47 |
| Issue number | 10 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Sep 2014 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The author is thankful to the UCLA International Institute, including the Asia Institute, the United States Institute of Peace, the UCSD Institute for Global Conflict and Cooperation, and Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs for their generous financial support.
Keywords
- ethno-nationalist
- outcomes
- peripheral civil wars
- rebel groups
- social embeddedness