Overview

There is a long history of state governments providing support to nonstate armed groups fighting battles in other countries. Examples include Syria's aid to Hamas, Ecuador's support for FARC, and Libya's donation of arms to the IRA. What motivates states to do this? And why would rebel groups align themselves with these states?In States in Disguise, Belgin San-Akca builds a rigorous theoretical framework within which to study the complex and fluid network of relationships between states and rebel groups, including ethnic and religious insurgents, revolutionary groups, and terrorists. She proves that patterns of alliances between armed rebels and modern states are hardly coincidental, but the result of systematic and strategic choices made by both states and rebel groups. San-Akca demonstrates that these alliances are the result of shared conflictual, material and ideational interests, and her theory shows how to understand these ties via the domestic and international environment. Drawing from an original data set of 455 groups, their target states, and supporters over a span of more than sixty years, she explains that states are most likely to support rebel groups when they are confronted with internal and external threats simultaneously, while rebels select strong states and democracies when seeking outside support. She also shows that states and rebels look to align with one another when they share ethnic, religious and ideological ties. Through its broad chronological sweep, States in Disguise reveals how and why the phenomenon of state and rebel group alliances has evolved over time.

Full Product Details

Author:   Belgin San-Akca (Assistant Professor of International Relations, Assistant Professor of International Relations, Koç University)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press Inc
Imprint:   Oxford University Press Inc
Dimensions:   Width: 16.40cm , Height: 2.30cm , Length: 23.60cm
Weight:   0.600kg
ISBN:  

9780190250881

ISBN 10:   0190250887
Pages:   320
Publication Date:   03 November 2016
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

List of Maps List of Figures List of Tables List of Abbreviations Acknowledgments 1. Introduction: Bringing Nonstate Armed Groups into the Study of International Relations 2. A Selection Theory of State Support for Rebel Groups 3. Dangerous Companions: Research Design, Data Collection, and Coding Procedures 4. States' Selection Model 5. Rebels' Selection Model 6. Conclusion: Main Trends in State Support of Nonstate Armed Groups Appendix 1. Sample Data Table Appendix 2. Dangerous Companions: Cooperation between States and Nonstate Armed Groups (NAGs) Appendix 3. States with a Single- Party Communist Regime (Up to 2010) Appendix 4. The Entire Cases of Intentional Support, 1945- 2010 Appendix 5. The Entire Cases of De Facto Support, 1945- 2010 Notes Bibliography Index

Reviews

Belgin San-Akca explores the main forms of collaboration and support between states and rebel groups. In a thorough and convincing way, Daniel Byman, Professor in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, and Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution A systematic and innovative analysis of state support for rebel groups that stresses the agency of both sides. Based on an original dataset, the book makes an impressive contribution to understanding these complex and highly consequential relationships as well as to bringing violent non-state actors into the domain of typically state-centric international relations theory. Martha Crenshaw, Center for International Security and Cooperation, Stanford University External actors are recognized as playing an important role in contemporary civil conflicts, yet agency is often neglected. This book argues convincingly that support must be understood as result of the interaction between rebels, target states, and potential supporting states, motivated by both domestic and external threats, and offers valuable new data on external support relations. It is a must-read for all interested in the transnational dimensions of civil war. Kristian Skrede Gleditsch, University of Essex Shedding valuable light on the shady world of covert state support for rebel groups, this book makes a major contribution to the open-polity perspective on civil war. With admirable conceptual clarity and analytical precision, Belgin San-Akca shows that transnational conflict patterns cannot be reduced to rebels opportunistic exploitation of state weakness or simple models of proxy warfare. Instead, Lars-Erik Cederman, author of

Shedding valuable light on the shady world of covert state support for rebel groups, this book makes a major contribution to the open-polity perspective on civil war. With admirable conceptual clarity and analytical precision, Belgin San-Akca shows that transnational conflict patterns cannot be reduced to rebels opportunistic exploitation of state weakness or simple models of proxy warfare. Instead, * Lars-Erik Cederman, author of * External actors are recognized as playing an important role in contemporary civil conflicts, yet agency is often neglected. This book argues convincingly that support must be understood as result of the interaction between rebels, target states, and potential supporting states, motivated by both domestic and external threats, and offers valuable new data on external support relations. It is a must-read for all interested in the transnational dimensions of civil war. * Kristian Skrede Gleditsch, University of Essex * A systematic and innovative analysis of state support for rebel groups that stresses the agency of both sides. Based on an original dataset, the book makes an impressive contribution to understanding these complex and highly consequential relationships as well as to bringing violent non-state actors into the domain of typically state-centric international relations theory. * Martha Crenshaw, Center for International Security and Cooperation, Stanford University * Belgin San-Akca explores the main forms of collaboration and support between states and rebel groups. In a thorough and convincing way, * Daniel Byman, Professor in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, and Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution *

Author Information

Belgin San-Akca is Assistant Professor of International Relations at Koç University.

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