Doctoral Dissertation Research in Political Science: Counterinsurgent Militias and the Dynamics of Civil Wars

反叛乱民兵——内战中除了国家军队或叛军之外的第三个角色——在许多内战中发挥了重要作用，包括莫桑比克（1976-1992）和塞拉利昂（1991-2002）。反叛乱民兵是对平民实施暴力的主要肇事者之一。然而，对于民兵是如何随着内战的展开而出现和演变的，我们缺乏系统的了解。本项目引入了反叛乱民兵的新定义和类型，并使用强调民兵、反叛团体、国家部队和平民之间社会互动的分析框架来研究民兵的出现、组织形式和演变。该研究提出，民兵的出现受到存在的安全威胁类型和受威胁社区中国家存在与否的影响。民兵组织的形成取决于其社会基础的广度和在国家层面上脱离政治精英的自治程度。该项目旨在解释民兵组织形式随着时间的推移而发生的变化，并参考其在安抚领土方面的成功。这项研究建立在人种学和档案数据的基础上，这些数据将在莫桑比克和塞拉利昂为期12个月的实地调查中收集，以进一步阐述最初的理论，并对其他解释进行检验。研究设计包括在莫桑比克政府的解放<s:1>共和军（Frelimo）和反叛军队Resistência全国共和军（Renamo）之间的内战以及塞拉利昂政府和革命联合阵线（RUF）之间的内战中，对反叛乱民兵进行跨国、次国家和个案比较。该项目从三个方面加强了科学认识。首先，内战的研究过于以国家为中心，因为内战的经典形象是由寻求夺取国家权力的叛乱所驱动的。这个项目考察了在以前的内战比较研究中被忽视的一个决定性因素。其次，许多研究对内战中的武装团体的概念是静态的，缺乏对组织变革的理解。通过关注反叛乱民兵，这些组织形式在内战过程中变化很大的行动者，该项目可以将武装团体的组织变化理论化。第三，这个项目对理解内战在微观层面上的动态有影响，如成员基础、暴力模式和不同武装组织的领土控制水平。它也会影响我们对宏观层面上的动态的理解？内战的持续时间和结果。例如，民兵可以增加或减少暴力程度，这取决于他们是否成功打击反叛组织或招致报复。此外，它们可能会增加与冲突有利害关系的行动者的数量，从而延长内战。此外，本研究还做出了一些更广泛的贡献。加强我们对反叛乱民兵现象的理解，有助于预防、管理和解决暴力冲突，并在内战结束后促进稳定与发展。更好地了解一些民兵为何以及何时转向针对平民的暴力，可以为内战中的维和部队和调解人制定政策提供信息。更好地了解内战结束后民兵对安全的影响情况，可以指导寻求可行的和平协定和全面的复员努力。该项目将包括与莫桑比克、塞拉利昂和美国的研究人员和政策分析人员一起举办讲习班，以增进对民兵的了解，并为冲突管理和解决政策提供信息。

Counterinsurgent militias--third actors in civil wars other than state or rebel armies--have played a strong part in many civil wars, including in Mozambique (1976-1992) and Sierra Leone (1991-2002). Counterinsurgent militias have been among the main perpetrators of violence against civilians. Yet we lack systematic understanding of how militias emerge and evolve as civil war unfolds. This project introduces a new definition and typology of counterinsurgent militias and uses an analytic framework emphasizing the social interactions between militias, rebel groups, state forces, and civilians to study militia emergence, organizational form and evolution. The research proposes that militia emergence is influenced by the type of security threat that exists and the presence or absence of the state in threatened communities. Militia organization is shaped by the breadth of its social base and the degree of its autonomy from political elites on the national level. The project seeks to explain change in the organizational form of a militia over time with reference to its success to pacify territories.The research builds on ethnographic and archival data that will be collected during twelve months of fieldwork in Mozambique and Sierra Leone to further elaborate the initial theory and test it against alternative explanations. The research design includes cross-national, sub-national and within-case comparisons of counterinsurgent militias in the civil wars in Mozambique between the government Frente de Libertação de Moçambique, Frelimo, and the rebel army Resistência Nacional Moçambicana, Renamo, and in Sierra Leone between the government and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF).The project enhances scientific understanding in three ways. First, the study of civil wars has been overly state-centric due to the classic image of civil wars as driven by insurgencies seeking to capture state power. This project examines a decisive actor neglected in previous comparative research on civil war. Second, many studies work with a static conception of armed groups in civil war and lack an understanding of organizational change. By focusing on counterinsurgent militias, actors whose organizational forms vary considerably in the course of a civil war, this project can theorize organizational change of armed groups. Third, this project has implications for understanding the dynamics of civil war on the micro level such as the membership base, patterns of violence, and level of territorial control of different armed organizations. It also affects our understanding of the dynamics on the macro level?the duration and outcome of civil wars. For instance, militias can increase or decrease the level of violence, depending on whether they succeed against rebel groups or attract retaliation. Also, they may lengthen civil wars by increasing the number of actors with a stake in the conflict.In addition, this research makes several broader contributions. Enhancing our understanding of the phenomenon of counterinsurgent militias can help prevent, manage, and resolve violent conflict and promote stability and development when civil wars come to an end. A better understanding of why and when some militias turn to violence against civilians can inform policies for peacekeeping forces and mediators in civil wars. A better understanding of the conditions of the impact of militias on security after the end civil wars can guide the search for workable peace agreements and comprehensive demobilization efforts. The project will include workshops with researchers and policy analysts in Mozambique, Sierra Leone, and the US to enhance knowledge about militias and to inform policies for conflict management and resolution.