CH 6 War and Terrorism VOCABULARY SEPARATISM the desire to create an independent state on territory carved from existing state IRREDENTISM the desire to detach a region from one country and attach it to another usually because of shared ethnic or religious ties PROXY WAR A conflict in which two opposing states fight by supporting opposite sides in war such as the government and rebels in a third state INSURGENCY a military strategy in which small often lightly armed units engage in hit and run attacks against military government and civilian targets TERRORISM the use or threatened use of violence against noncombatant targets by individuals or nonstate groups for political ends EXTEREMISTS actor whose interests are not widely shared by others individuals or groups that are politically weak relative to the demands they make ASYMMETRIC WARFARE armed conflict between actors with highly unequal military capabilities TERRORISM the use or threatened use of violence against noncombatant targets by individuals or nonstate groups for political ends EXTEREMISTS actor whose interests are not widely shared by others individuals or groups that are politically weak relative to the demands they make ASYMMETRIC WARFARE armed conflict between actors with highly unequal military capabilities I Civil War Where do they occur o 1990 2010 most happening in poor areas neighborhoods Africa Latin America Middle East S E Asia o Produces a lot of refugees this is known as the spillover effect They end up destabilizing the country they flee to Sudan o South became independent country after civil war o North half is Muslim as well as the majority and military government The south half were Christians and were the minority Democratic Republic of Congo o Civil War in 1996 being triggered by refugees as well as involvement of other countries o Really was triggered by Rwanda genocide in 1994 killed the Tootsies At the root of all civil wars is some conflict of interest between the government and some subset of the population usually over territory policy or regime o Grievances can arise when the policies of the government discriminate against members of a particular group o Greed refers to a group s desire to control more of the country s economic resources II Why War Civil war as a bargaining failure o Credible commitment problems are way more relevant as why civil wars occur Commitment problems can arise when anticipated shifts in power create incentives to fight preventively A second commitment problem results from the fact that the combatants in a civil war generally have to live together once their conflict is settled So the government makes the deal that rebels have to demobilize and disarm and they ll make some concession But how can the rebel group be sure the government will continue to abide by the deal But this is also on the rebel side how can they assure the government that everyone in the group will abide by the new deal And this is why civil wars rarely end in peace agreements o Information asymmetries Resolve uncertainty Its not known how much each side is willing to pay for war Collective Action Problem This free riding is resolved by convincing others they are needed for the war because of ethnicity religion Expected outcome o Indivisibility over the good III Strategies and Resolving Crisis Insurgency is the most common rebel tactic o Small units operating lightly armed weapons doing hit run tactics government o Not aiming to hold territory just trying to change the o Goal is to make it hard for government to distinguish friend and foe Counter Insurgency o Conventional military force They do well when they can distinguish friend foe o When they have a lot of collected damage it becomes difficult to win hearts and minds They re not trying to win the ones fighting against but the larger population to help them aka heart and minds o Provide security and support to civilians so that they will not be tempted into joining rebellion Resolving Civil Wars o Third parties International actors An outside international actor can help the credible commitment and information problem They can credibly guarantee the safety of disarmed and demobilized rebels and help them regenerate in society They create a balance of power Help with economic and political reconstruction of the country which is important to long term stability o Power sharing Different groups in society have different posts Reduce power in just one group Reduces credible commitment problems IV Terrorism Unlike conventional warfare terrorism is an attempt to win concessions not by defeating the armed forces of another actor but by attacking civilians or civilian military units not engaged in combat o Governments can engage in terrorism but usually by non government groups Example Al Qaeda o Terrorism is rare Why terrorism obtain o Terrorists are rational they have a goal they re trying to Also describing them as such makes them accountable o Terrorists are strategic Random attacks and hurting innocent people to establish fear o We can think of them as extremists They use violence because they cant get their ideas initiated the normal way o Terrorism goes back to bargaining failure Terrorist Organizations o Decentralized their networks with many cells You only lose a small part rather than a whole o Why organized this way Networks are more robust to penetration or counter Easier to police your members and see who s a true attack terrorist o Where do we typically find terrorist organizations In sympathetic populations Places they can potentially hide Areas they physically control Places physically hard to reach In failed states Terrorism as a bargaining problem o Incomplete info Target states ex US lack info Hard to filter out real fake threats Limited information of states and terrorists willing to share Difficult for terrorist to make threats credible Capabilities tend to exaggerate their threats and how strong they are o Commitment Problems a plan Its an unhonest group How terrorist groups can show honestly to agreeing to They can show their credible commitment by disarming making a public statement But they ll never because then they have to trust they wont be arrested by government or worse o Issue of Indivisibility trust Almost anything can be divided its just being able to Religion is an all or nothing thing For example Israel cant be divided Actors also have the incentive to make others believe their demands are all or nothing V
View Full Document
Unlocking...