POL S 7 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Asymmetric Warfare, Metastasis, United States Code
Document Summary
A great deal of politically motivated violence in the contemporary world is committed by or directed against non-state actors: particularly, rebel groups in civil wars. Civil conflict can arise when individuals have interests that conflict with those of the government. But conflicts of interest are not sufficient for organized opposition to emerge. As in international relations, bargaining between a gov and a rebel group can generally lead to war only as a result of information asymmetries, commitment problems. Active civil conflicts by conflict type and year, 1946-2008. Power vacuum, space for gov is shrinking. Above is not true; rate of civil wars is pretty constant over time (average of 2. 31 civil wars per year) Thus, civil wars are difficult to end in the long run (ending at a rate of 1. 85 per year) Greed and grievance as explanations for civil war: Conflicts of interest with gov. (proxy wars)
