1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910824544703321

Autore

Christia Fotini

Titolo

Alliance formation in civil wars / / Fotini Christia, Massachusetts Institute of Technology [[electronic resource]]

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cambridge : , : Cambridge University Press, , 2012

ISBN

1-139-85411-9

1-107-23596-0

1-139-84267-6

1-107-25454-X

1-139-84503-9

1-139-84029-0

1-139-14942-3

1-283-83606-8

1-139-84148-3

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (xvi, 343 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)

Classificazione

POL011000

Disciplina

303.6/4

Soggetti

Civil war

Alliances

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Machine generated contents note: Part I. Context and Theory: 1. Literature and research design; 2. A theory of warring group alliances and fractionalization in mult-party civil wars; Part II. Afghanistan: 3. The Afghan Intra-Mujahedin War, 1992-1998; 4. The Afghan Communist-Mujahedin War, 1978-1989; 5. The theory at the commander level in Afghanistan, 1978-1998; Part III. Bosnia and Herzegovina: 6. The Bosnian Civil War, 1992-1995; 7. The Bosnian Civil War, 1941-1945; Part IV. Further Extensions: 8. Quantitative testing on the universe of cases of multi-party civil wars.

Sommario/riassunto

Some of the most brutal and long-lasting civil wars of our time involve the rapid formation and disintegration of alliances among warring groups, as well as fractionalization within them. It would be natural to suppose that warring groups form alliances based on shared identity



considerations - such as Christian groups allying with Christian groups - but this is not what we see. Two groups that identify themselves as bitter foes one day, on the basis of some identity narrative, might be allies the next day and vice versa. Nor is any group, however homogeneous, safe from internal fractionalization. Rather, looking closely at the civil wars in Afghanistan and Bosnia and testing against the broader universe of fifty-three cases of multiparty civil wars, Fotini Christia finds that the relative power distribution between and within various warring groups is the primary driving force behind alliance formation, alliance changes, group splits and internal group takeovers.