Theories of civil war usually theorize the choices of civilians and combatants without
considering the institutional context in which they interact. Despite common depictions of …

Conventional wisdom portrays war zones as chaotic and anarchic. In reality, however, they
are often orderly. This work introduces a new phenomenon in the study of civil war: wartime …

Militias are an empirical phenomenon that has been overlooked by current research on civil
war. Yet, it is a phenomenon that is crucial for understanding political violence, civil war, post …

Terms like 'support'and 'collaboration'are often used interchangeably to denote a loose set
of acts or attitudes that benefit non-state armed groups (NSAGs). However, these terms are …

Anti-insurgent militias and states attempt to erode insurgent groups' capacities and co-opt
insurgent fighters by promising and providing benefits. They do so to create a perception …

Why do ordinary people take extraordinary risks and join an ethnic armed rebellion? This
article tests a series of well-established hypotheses about selfish and identity based …

Under what conditions do rebel organizations control territory during civil war? How do
civilians influence the distribution of territorial control? This article introduces a civilian …

Side switching by armed groups is a prominent feature of many civil wars. Shifts in alignment
have far-reaching consequences, influencing key outcomes such as civil war duration and …

The article reviews recent advances in the study of violence in civil wars. It provides a brief
description of the baseline “control-collaboration” model, discusses alternatives to it, and …

Previous research on rebel recruitment has focused on the economic and social incentives
groups used as enticements but has overlooked the question of why many armed groups …