Irregular Armed Forces and their Role in Politics and State Formation

Irregular Armed Forces and their Role in Politics and State Formation PDF Author: Diane E. Davis
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139439987
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 431

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Book Description
Existing models of state formation are derived primarily from early Western European experience, and are misleading when applied to nation-states struggling to consolidate their dominion in the present period. In this volume, scholars suggest that the Western European model of armies waging war on behalf of sovereign states does not hold universally. The importance of 'irregular' armed forces - militias, guerrillas, paramilitaries, mercenaries, bandits, vigilantes, police, and so on - has been seriously neglected in the literature on this subject. The case studies in this book suggest, among other things, that the creation of the nation-state as a secure political entity rests as much on 'irregular' as regular armed forces. For most of the 'developing' world, the state's legitimacy has been difficult to achieve, constantly eroding or challenged by irregular armed forces within a country's borders. No account of modern state formation can be considered complete without attending to irregular forces.

Irregular Armed Forces and their Role in Politics and State Formation

Irregular Armed Forces and their Role in Politics and State Formation PDF Author: Diane E. Davis
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139439987
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 431

Get Book Here

Book Description
Existing models of state formation are derived primarily from early Western European experience, and are misleading when applied to nation-states struggling to consolidate their dominion in the present period. In this volume, scholars suggest that the Western European model of armies waging war on behalf of sovereign states does not hold universally. The importance of 'irregular' armed forces - militias, guerrillas, paramilitaries, mercenaries, bandits, vigilantes, police, and so on - has been seriously neglected in the literature on this subject. The case studies in this book suggest, among other things, that the creation of the nation-state as a secure political entity rests as much on 'irregular' as regular armed forces. For most of the 'developing' world, the state's legitimacy has been difficult to achieve, constantly eroding or challenged by irregular armed forces within a country's borders. No account of modern state formation can be considered complete without attending to irregular forces.

Contention and Trust in Cities and States

Contention and Trust in Cities and States PDF Author: Michael Hanagan
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9400707568
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 403

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Book Description
The catalyst for this book is the fact that noted sociologist Charles Tilly, upon his death in 2008, left one completed chapter of an unfinished manuscript entitled “Cities, States, and Trust Networks,” examining the relationships between cities and nation-states over the sweep of history, and in particular the role of trust networks in mediating this relationship. Though this was the catalyst, the book serves a broader purpose: to survey recent frontier work on cities, nation-states, and the relations between the two in historical and contemporary perspective. Essays in the book will address four main themes: city-state relations, trust networks and commitment, democracy and inequality, and the importance of historical legacies in shaping state structures, practices, and capacities. They will be global in scope, with research on the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Africa; a number of the pieces will be comparative. They will also be interdisciplinary, including works of geography, history, political science, sociology, urban planning. The book addresses several confluent needs of readers. One is to simply update themes addressed in earlier edited work such as Bringing the State Back In (1985). A second is to bring together current thinking about cities on the one hand and nation-states on the other, literatures that are often segregated from each other. A third is to perform those two purposes in a way that is global in scope and combines both historical and current analyses, to pull together insights from the full range of human experience.

The Military and Democracy in Indonesia

The Military and Democracy in Indonesia PDF Author: Angel Rabasa
Publisher: Rand Corporation
ISBN: 0833034022
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 185

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Book Description
The military is one of the few institutions that cut across the divides of Indonesian society. As it continues to play a critical part in determining Indonesia's future, the military itself is undergoing profound change. The authors of this book examine the role of the military in politics and society since the fall of President Suharto in 1998. They present several strategic scenarios for Indonesia, which have important implications for U.S.-Indonesian relations, and propose goals for Indonesian military reform and elements of a U.S. engagement policy.

Building a Multiethnic Military in Post-Yugoslav Bosnia and Herzegovina

Building a Multiethnic Military in Post-Yugoslav Bosnia and Herzegovina PDF Author: Elliot Short
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1350190942
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
On 1 January 2006, soldiers from across Bosnia and Herzegovina gathered to mark the official formation of a unified army; and yet, little over a decade before, these men had been each other's adversaries during the vicious conflict which left the Balkan state divided and impoverished. Building a Multi-Ethnic Military in Post-Yugoslav Bosnia and Herzegovina offers the first analysis of the armed forces during times of peace-building in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This sophisticated study assesses Yugoslav efforts to build a multi-ethnic military during the socialist period, charts the developments of the armies that fought in the war, and offers a detailed account of the post-war international initiatives that led to the creation of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina. At this point, the military became the largest multi-ethnic institution in the country and was regarded as a model for the rest of Bosnian society to follow. As such, as Elliot Short adroitly contends, this multi-ethnic army became the most significant act in stabilising the country since the end of the Bosnian War. Drawing upon a wealth of primary sources – including interviews with leading diplomats and archival documents made available in English for the first time – this book explores the social and political role of the Bosnian military and in doing so provides fresh insight into the Yugoslav Wars, statehood and national identity, and peace-building in modern European history.

Armed Groups and Contemporary Conflicts

Armed Groups and Contemporary Conflicts PDF Author: Keith Krause
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317987098
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 215

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Book Description
Armed groups operating beyond the state have become the most important actors in most contemporary wars and violent conflicts, from Iraq and Afghanistan to Colombia and Somalia. They come in a dizzying array of forms: some informally linked to the state and state power, others in opposition to the state; some pursuing classic political goals, others primarily predatory and large-scale criminal enterprises. All groups, however, challenge the state’s Weberian monopoly of the legitimate use of force, yet their origins, evolution, violent dynamics, and relations with state power are poorly understood. This interdisciplinary collection includes both conceptual and empirical studies of contemporary armed groups, examining cases in Latin America, Asia and Africa. It brings sociological, political economy, and ethnographic approaches to bear on larger questions including armed groups and the changing nature of warfare, the economic dimensions of their activities, and means of engagement with armed actors. It both broadens and sharpens our understanding of how force and violence are used in today’s contemporary armed conflicts. This book was published as a special issue of Contemporary Security Policy.

State Building in Putin’s Russia

State Building in Putin’s Russia PDF Author: Brian D. Taylor
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139496441
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 393

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Book Description
This book argues that Putin's strategy for rebuilding the state was fundamentally flawed. Taylor demonstrates that a disregard for the way state officials behave toward citizens - state quality - had a negative impact on what the state could do - state capacity. Focusing on those organizations that control state coercion, what Russians call the 'power ministries', Taylor shows that many of the weaknesses of the Russian state that existed under Boris Yeltsin persisted under Putin. Drawing on extensive field research and interviews, as well as a wide range of comparative data, the book reveals the practices and norms that guide the behavior of Russian power ministry officials (the so-called siloviki), especially law enforcement personnel. By examining siloviki behavior from the Kremlin down to the street level, State Building in Putin's Russia uncovers the who, where and how of Russian state building after communism.

Warlords, Strongman Governors, and the State in Afghanistan

Warlords, Strongman Governors, and the State in Afghanistan PDF Author: Dipali Mukhopadhyay
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107023920
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 387

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Book Description
This book argues that Afghani warlords can under certain conditions become effective governors on behalf of the state.

Nonstate Warfare

Nonstate Warfare PDF Author: Stephen Biddle
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691216657
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 464

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Book Description
How nonstate military strategies overturn traditional perspectives on warfare Since September 11th, 2001, armed nonstate actors have received increased attention and discussion from scholars, policymakers, and the military. Underlying debates about nonstate warfare and how it should be countered is one crucial assumption: that state and nonstate actors fight very differently. In Nonstate Warfare, Stephen Biddle upturns this distinction, arguing that there is actually nothing intrinsic separating state or nonstate military behavior. Through an in-depth look at nonstate military conduct, Biddle shows that many nonstate armies now fight more "conventionally" than many state armies, and that the internal politics of nonstate actors—their institutional maturity and wartime stakes rather than their material weapons or equipment—determines tactics and strategies. Biddle frames nonstate and state methods along a continuum, spanning Fabian-style irregular warfare to Napoleonic-style warfare involving massed armies, and he presents a systematic theory to explain any given nonstate actor’s position on this spectrum. Showing that most warfare for at least a century has kept to the blended middle of the spectrum, Biddle argues that material and tribal culture explanations for nonstate warfare methods do not adequately explain observed patterns of warmaking. Investigating a range of historical examples from Lebanon and Iraq to Somalia, Croatia, and the Vietcong, Biddle demonstrates that viewing state and nonstate warfighting as mutually exclusive can lead to errors in policy and scholarship. A comprehensive account of combat methods and military rationale, Nonstate Warfare offers a new understanding for wartime military behavior.

New studies on civil-military relations and defense policy in Brazil

New studies on civil-military relations and defense policy in Brazil PDF Author: Octavio Amorim Neto
Publisher: Editora FGV
ISBN: 6556522007
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 150

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Book Description
"After one of the longest military regimes in Latin America's history, Brazil transitioned to democracy in 1985. It was inevitable that, from then on, the political power of the military would decline. However, the extent to which the country's armed forces would eschew politics was never clear, given the vast role it had always played in domestic affairs since the onset of the republic in 1889."

Strategic Alliances

Strategic Alliances PDF Author: Nella Van Dyke, Holly J. McCammon
Publisher: U of Minnesota Press
ISBN: 1452914494
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 375

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Book Description