APPROACHES TO CIVIL WARS: ‘HOW DO LEADERS LEAD, AND WHY DO FOLLOWERS FOLLOW?’
Journal Title: Social Affairs - Year 2016, Vol 1, Issue 4
Abstract
This paper analyses the theories of civil wars as envisioned by three civil war theories presented by Stathis Kalivas (2000, 2009), Michael Brown (1996) and Fearon and Laitin (2003). The paper begins with the defnitions and typology of civil wars, as envisioned by the three theories and highlights possible points of convergence among the three, in terms of the causes and process of civil war onset. Further, it comments upon individual nuances of the theories, and criticizes common aspects to present a comparative framework regarding theories of civil wars. The argument favours a systematic understanding of civil wars as presented by Stathis Kalyvas, through a thorough depiction of his structural and multifaceted understanding of the causes of civil war, based on the idea of violence. Although Brown’s contribution regarding the permissive and proximate causes of civil wars is critical towards distinguishing catalysts from underlying causes of civil wars, his reliance on elite-centred theories has been criticized. Fearon and Laitin’s empirical analysis although invaluable towards dispelling the centrality given to ethnic and religious diversity earlier, lacks in an understanding of what leads to actual violence. Towards the end, a more interpretative form of research is required to see how several factors cause internal conflict and are also endogenous and interconnected with the actors (government, insurgents, civilians), to understand the persistence of different forms of violence in civil wars.
Authors and Affiliations
Pizwak Imtiaz
Keywords
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