In the book, Warlords: Strong-Arm Brokers in Weak States, the author, Kimberly Marten, analytically and theoretically examines past and present cases of warlords; looking at their rise to power, their effect on states, their relationship with internal and external state political leaders, and the common themes that stem from each case of warlordism. Throughout this book, Marten studies the impact of warlords through four different case studies, each pertaining to different time periods and regions: Pakistan’s Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA), Georgia’s Upper Kodori and Ajara regions, Russia’s province of Chechnya, and the United States’ support of Sunni warlords in Iraq.
According to Marten, warlords are “individuals who control small pieces of territory using a combination of force and patronage” and that they “rule in defiance of genuine state sovereignty but through the complicity of state leaders” (Marten 3). After a brief overview, she then examines the case of warlords in the Pakistani region of FATA, an area that divides the rest of Pakistan from Afghanistan (Marten 32). This region is prominent for its hostile tribal groups and instability because of its division between Afghanistan and Pakistan (both weak states on a global scale) (Marten 36). These tribal leaders were given their power to be warlords by the Pakistani state, to govern and maintain stability in an otherwise “ungovernable” region (Marten 16-17). The idea behind this case is the trade-off between a false sense of short-term stability and long-term development of this region. State officials gave these warlords protection and leeway in return for security along the vulnerable border. Although stability is evident in this region by allowing warlords...
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...s shown and as Downes argues, regime changes can bring states back to their initial phase and potentially lead to worse circumstances and more vulnerability for that state. Thus, I have to concur with Downes and conclude that regime changes, even if it means maintaining warlord power, is far too risky of a task for a state to take on. In conclusion, a state cannot allow for a warlord to gain power no matter how dire of a situation a state is in, otherwise they face a future of political instability in those regions.
Works Cited
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Marten, Kimberly. Warlords: Strong-Arm Brokers in Weak States. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2012. Print.
Rethinking Violence: States and Non-state Actors in Conflict. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 2010. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), EBSCOhost (accessed April 22, 2014).
Organizing Insurgency by Paul Staniland, introduces the question, “Do resources like diamonds, drugs, and state sponsors turn insurgent groups into thuggish people or do they help build a more disciplined organization?” The reason this question is asked is because in some cases it suggests that “resource wealth encourages the degeneration of armed groups into greed and criminality” and other evidence shows that “external sponsorship and criminal activity can help leaders build organizations in the face of state repression” (p.142). This question is being presented because with different insurgent groups like the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) and the Hizbul Mujahidden, having very similar interactions with state sponsors, could have very different outcomes determining the fate of the insurgency. In looking at insurgent groups and how they operate, we are able to learn how some groups prosper while other groups fall apart.
. Pilisuk, Marc. “[CN]Chapter 5: [CN] Networks of Power.” Who Benefits from Global Violence and War: Uncovering a Destructive System. With Jennifer Achord Rountree. Westport: Praeger Security International, an imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc., 2008. Print.
Power at its most abusive divides and conquers forever. England in 1893 creates the “Durand Line,” an arbitrary 1500-mile border between ‘British’ India and Afghanistan that makes permanent Britain’s previous territorial gains and lays claim to the Northwest Frontier Provinces, long considered part of Afghanistan. Without consulting the Afghan government, a 1907 Anglo-Russian convention made the boundary “‘permanent’.” The taking of these provinces divided th...
Accepting Owen’s constructivist argument requires more detailed process tracing to show the causal links between TINs and forcible regime promotion. Owen has provided a thick description of rulers’ decisions to forcibly promote regime types in other countries and this description invites more research into the possible causes of this phenomenon. Others will have to build on his work to better assess the true impact of TINs on rulers’ decisions. TINs’ influence and ideological polarization certainly effected the environment in which rulers and governments made their decisions. However, there remain other plausible explanations for states’ actions that cannot be discounted.
...estructive but the threat of violence can lead to prosperity. In countries where stability is rare, the future is always tentative. Survival demands that people remain risk averse in these environments. It is only when the symbols of tamed power reemerge and hope of lasting peace returns that people begin to strategize for the future again
Pilisuk, Marc. “[CN]Chapter 5: [CN] Networks of Power.” Who Benefits from Global Violence and War: Uncovering a Destructive System. With Jennifer Achord Rountree. Westport: Praeger Security International, an imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc., 2008. Print.
Ryan, Curtis. "The New Arab Cold War and the Struggle for Syria." MER 262 42 (2012): n. pag. Middle East Research and Information Project. 2012. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.
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According to Quincy Wright, war is a “necessary means to establish, maintain, or expand the power of a government, party, or class within a state.” Wright’s statement is applicable to the Yugoslav Wars during the late twentieth century. The fragmented government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was losing its grip on legitimacy rather quickly due to the Socialist Republic collapsing fast. Wars rooted in deep internal ethnic and religious conflict propelled the Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and the Federation’s government in to a period of pseudo-legitimacy while the nations of the region struggled for autonomy, recognition, and harmony. This paper will attempt to prove how the diversionary theory of war is applicable
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To understand the demise of Somalia in the 1980’s, it is important to conceive that the 1978-1979 war against Ethiopia turned out to be a failure. The Siad Barre regime hadn’t succeeded in its dream to unify all Somali under one flag and as Isabelle Duyvesteyn (2005) writes “large sections of the Somali populations remained armed” (p.40). Consequently, the regime decided to punish as she writes “ all the officials he (Siad Barre) held responsible for the defeat” (p.40), which according to this scholar initiated turmoil.
The Syrian Civil War is a good example of world leaders playing by the rules of realism. The civil war began in March of 2011 as part of the Arab Spring, and by July of 2012 17,000 have died and another 170,000 fled the country (Almond). The United Nations Security Council in February of 2012 had tried t...
Quarterly, inc. "Syria." The Middle East. 11th ed. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2007. 437 - 456. Print.
In the past ten years the Afghan Government has been dealing with a number of issues that have caused problems for the country, problems such as illegal drug trade, terrorism and violence. But nowadays they are fighting a problem that has long existed between people, and quite recently has taken a whole new aspect to it. Ethnic conflict is the destructive factor that has caused problems between people for generations, often leading to fights, outbreak of violence and grudge between different ethnicities.