Focusing on the examples of Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Zaire, this text demonstrates how African rulers hold on to power while severed from foreign aid and subjected to collapsing economies and disappearing bureaucracies.

Warlord Politics and African States

of distinguished and rather senior economists – makes at the end of the book. Their priorities tend to be quick-fixes of problems that might, at least partly, be caused by some other challenge. More importantly, the panellists tend to disregard some of the evidence assembled by the authors. The reactions to the excellent chapter on armed conflict by Collier & Hoeffler illustrate that Nobel awards are no protection against bias. One member of the panel dismisses the economic sources of war that the Oxford economists analyse and points out that free trade is the main pacifying force, while another famous panellist mentions ethnic or religious hatred as a source of conflict. Gerald Schneider

At War’s End: Building Peace After Civil Conflict:

Practical Reason On The Theory Of Action

Jeremy M. Weinstein, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2007 xx +402 pp. £43.00 ISBN 0-521-86077-6 (hardback); £16.99 ISBN 0-521-67797-1 (paperback) Inside Rebellion offers an insightful accoun...

Inside Rebellion: The Politics of Insurgent Violence

Mark Duffield's second edition of ‘Global Governance and the New Wars’ offers an important and biting critique of how different actors within the security and development discourse have adapted to 

Global Governance and the New Wars: The Merging of Development and Security

Islamic State relies heavily on the recruitment of foreign fighters. We examine this recruitment from an organizational perspective. We analyze how the process of recruitment of foreigners shapes the adverse selection problem affecting the dissident groups that they join. We also examine the different mechanisms used to maintain the allegiance and compliance of foreigners as opposed to indigenous recruits. More broadly, we analyze how the recruitment of foreign fighters affects the organization. Foreign fighters and local recruits exhibit significant differences in recruitment patterns and motivations for joining IS. This could create problems for the organization. Evidence of such strife, however, is not discernible. Given the information at hand, IS appears to be effectively managing the mix of foreign and local recruits.

Social Media, Recruitment, Allegiance and the Islamic State

This article explores the potential for mainstreaming wartime rebel governance structures into post-conflict state-building efforts. Through a study of the Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement's (SPLA/M) efforts at state-building in South Sudan (1994–2011), it examines the oft-neglected linkages between rebel governance and post-conflict legitimacy. Findings highlight three pitfalls of mainstreaming non-state roles without sufficient analysis of the sources of legitimacy underlying rebel governance frameworks. First, by drawing upon the functions and legitimacy of other non-state actors rather than the rebel group itself, an artificial image of state-building can be projected. Second, due to the fragmented and dispersed nature of legitimacy, the ‘bottom-up’ logic of state-building can prove dubious. Third, weak capacity in governance, and subcontracted sources of legitimacy, are likely to undermine the ability to develop independent structures and functions. Conclusions offer four case specific insight...

Mainstreaming the non-state in bottom-up state-building: linkages between rebel governance and post-conflict legitimacy

PART I The Long Road Home: Conceptual Debates on Recruitment Experiences and Reintegration Outcomes A.Ozerdem & S.Podder PART II Why Do Children Fight? Motivations and the Mode of Recruitment S.Gates Child Soldier Recruitment in the Liberian Civil Wars: Individual Motivations and Rebel Group Tactics S.Podder Group Cohesion and Coercive Recruitment: Young combatants and the Revolutionary United Front of Sierra Leone K.Peters Girl Soldiers in Guatemala W.Hauge Resilience Amidst Risks for Recruitment: A Case Study of 'At Risk' Children in Colombia R.Burgess How Voluntary: Community and Youth Participation in Muslim Mindanao A. Ozerdem & S.Podder PART III Neither Child nor Soldier: Contested Terrains in Identity, Victimcy and Survival S.Podder But I Am a Man! Imposition of Childhood and Denial of Identity, Economic Opportunity for Youth Combatants in Afghanistan S.Zyck In Group Socialization and Reintegration Challenges: A Study of the Lord's Resistance Army in Northern Uganda L.Vermeij Social Navigation and Power in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone: Reflections from a Former Child Soldier Turned Bike Rider M.Denov Victimcy as Social Navigation: From the Toolbox of a Liberian Child Soldier M.Utas Mozambique Life Outcome Study: How Did Child Soldiers Turn-Out as Adults? N.Boothby Exclusion or Reintegration: Child Soldiers in Angola J.McMullin PART IV Child Soldier Reintegration in Sudan: A Practitioner's Field Experience P.Halton Reintegration of Child Soldiers in Nepal: Grassroots Reflections D.Raj & P.Dewan Binadi PART V Mapping Child Soldier Reintegration Outcomes: Exploring the Linkages A.Ozerdem & S.Podder

Child Soldiers: From Recruitment to Reintegration

This paper analyses the multiple pathways through which legitimacy of armed groups is constructed in conflict-affected states. It adopts a political sociological approach to the study of armed grou...

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Understanding the Legitimacy of Armed Groups: A Relational Perspective

Events such as the Arab Spring in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Syria have created an urgent need for the international community to engage with a range of armed groups during and after conflict. This engagement extends beyond humanitarian, conflict resolution and counter-terrorism ends to issues of democratization and political transition of such groups in legitimate, stable, and inclusive governments. This article underlines the need to reconsider post-counter-terrorism engagement styles, which frame non-state armed groups (NSAGs) exclusively as spoilers, and stresses opportunities for state-building partnership that certain NSAGs offer. Towards this end, this article emphasizes the importance of distinguishing between different types of NSAGs, based on their sources of legitimacy, resources, reliability, and partnering potential. It concludes with four entry points that promise a strong basis for incorporating ‘legitimacy, inclusion, and resource’ considerations into the planning and implementation of fut...

Sukanya Podder

Papers

Social Media, Recruitment, Allegiance and the Islamic State

Mainstreaming the non-state in bottom-up state-building: linkages between rebel governance and post-conflict legitimacy

Child Soldiers: From Recruitment to Reintegration

Understanding the Legitimacy of Armed Groups: A Relational Perspective

Non-State Armed Groups and Stability: Reconsidering Legitimacy and Inclusion