IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/jocore/v63y2019i9p2071-2097.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Networks of Cooperation: Rebel Alliances in Fragmented Civil Wars

Author

Listed:
  • Emily Kalah Gade
  • Michael Gabbay
  • Mohammed M. Hafez
  • Zane Kelly

Abstract

When rebels make alliances, what informs their choice of allies? Civil wars are rarely simple contests between rebels and incumbent regimes. Rather, rival militant networks provide the context in which these fragmented conflicts unfold. Alliances that emerge within this competitive landscape have the power to alter conflict trajectories and shape their outcomes. Yet patterns of interrebel cooperation are understudied. The existing scholarship on rebel alliances focuses on why rebels cooperate, but little attention is given to the composition of those alliances: with whom rebels cooperate. We explore how power, ideology, and state sponsorship can shape alliance choices in multiparty civil wars. Employing network analysis and an original data set of tactical cooperation among Syrian rebels, we find compelling evidence that ideological homophily is a primary driver of rebel collaboration. Our findings contribute to an emerging literature that reasserts the role of ideology in conflict processes.

Suggested Citation

  • Emily Kalah Gade & Michael Gabbay & Mohammed M. Hafez & Zane Kelly, 2019. "Networks of Cooperation: Rebel Alliances in Fragmented Civil Wars," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 63(9), pages 2071-2097, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:jocore:v:63:y:2019:i:9:p:2071-2097
    DOI: 10.1177/0022002719826234
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0022002719826234
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0022002719826234?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Salehyan, Idean & Siroky, David & Wood, Reed M., 2014. "External Rebel Sponsorship and Civilian Abuse: A Principal-Agent Analysis of Wartime Atrocities," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 68(3), pages 633-661, July.
    2. Kathleen Gallagher Cunningham, 2013. "Actor Fragmentation and Civil War Bargaining: How Internal Divisions Generate Civil Conflict," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 57(3), pages 659-672, July.
    3. Ben Oppenheim & Abbey Steele & Juan F. Vargas & Michael Weintraub, 2015. "True Believers, Deserters, and Traitors," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 59(5), pages 794-823, August.
    4. Nils W. Metternich & Cassy Dorff & Max Gallop & Simon Weschle & Michael D. Ward, 2013. "Antigovernment Networks in Civil Conflicts: How Network Structures Affect Conflictual Behavior," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 57(4), pages 892-911, October.
    5. Minhas, Shahryar & Hoff, Peter D. & Ward, Michael D., 2019. "Inferential Approaches for Network Analysis: AMEN for Latent Factor Models," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 27(2), pages 208-222, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tim Heinkelmann-Wild & Marius Mehrl, 2022. "Indirect Governance at War: Delegation and Orchestration in Rebel Support," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 66(1), pages 115-143, January.
    2. Charles Butcher & Jessica Maves Braithwaite & Jonathan Pinckney & Eirin Haugseth & Ingrid Vik Bakken & Marius Swane Wishman, 2022. "Introducing the Anatomy of Resistance Campaigns (ARC) dataset," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 59(3), pages 449-460, May.
    3. Rob Williams, 2022. "Turning the lights on to keep them in the fold: How governments preempt secession attempts," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 39(4), pages 422-446, July.
    4. Katherine Sawyer & Kathleen Gallagher Cunningham & William Reed, 2017. "The Role of External Support in Civil War Termination," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 61(6), pages 1174-1202, July.
    5. Kikuta,Kyosuke & Hanayama,Manaho, 2023. "Does the Nobel Peace Prize Improve Women’s Rights? Prize and Praise in International Relations," IDE Discussion Papers 903, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    6. Michael C. Marshall, 2019. "Foreign Rebel Sponsorship: A Patron–Client Analysis of Party Viability in Elections Following Negotiated Settlements," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 63(2), pages 555-584, February.
    7. Ezequiel Gonzalez-Ocantos & Chad Kiewiet de Jonge & Carlos Meléndez & David Nickerson & Javier Osorio, 2020. "Carrots and sticks: Experimental evidence of vote-buying and voter intimidation in Guatemala," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 57(1), pages 46-61, January.
    8. Westra, Daan & Makai, Peter & Kemp, Ron, 2024. "Return to sender: Unraveling the role of structural and social network ties in patient sharing networks," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 340(C).
    9. Jori Breslawski & Colin Tucker, 2022. "Ideological motives and taxation by armed groups," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 39(3), pages 333-350, May.
    10. Miguel R. Rueda, 2017. "Popular Support, Violence, and Territorial Control in Civil War," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 61(8), pages 1626-1652, September.
    11. Justin Conrad & Liana Eustacia Reyes & Megan A. Stewart, 2022. "Revisiting Opportunism in Civil Conflict: Natural Resource Extraction and Health Care Provision," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 66(1), pages 91-114, January.
    12. De Nicola, Giacomo & Fritz, Cornelius & Mehrl, Marius & Kauermann, Göran, 2023. "Dependence matters: Statistical models to identify the drivers of tie formation in economic networks," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 215(C), pages 351-363.
    13. Reyko Huang & Patricia L Sullivan, 2021. "Arms for education? External support and rebel social services," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 58(4), pages 794-808, July.
    14. Leonardo R. Arriola & David A. Dow & Aila M. Matanock & Michaela Mattes, 2021. "Policing Institutions and Post-Conflict Peace," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 65(10), pages 1738-1763, November.
    15. Victor Asal & Brian J. Phillips, 2018. "What explains ethnic organizational violence? Evidence from Eastern Europe and Russia," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 35(2), pages 111-131, March.
    16. Nils-Christian Bormann & Burcu Savun, 2018. "Reputation, concessions, and territorial civil war," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 55(5), pages 671-686, September.
    17. Sara MT Polo, 2020. "The quality of terrorist violence: Explaining the logic of terrorist target choice," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 57(2), pages 235-250, March.
    18. Mark D. Ramirez & Reed M. Wood, 2019. "Public Attitudes toward Private Military Companies: Insights from Principal–agent Theory," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 63(6), pages 1433-1459, July.
    19. James Adams & Simon Weschle & Christopher Wlezien, 2021. "Elite Interactions and Voters’ Perceptions of Parties’ Policy Positions," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 65(1), pages 101-114, January.
    20. Crost, Benjamin & Duquennois, Claire & Felter, Joseph H. & Rees, Daniel I., 2018. "Climate change, agricultural production and civil conflict: Evidence from the Philippines," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 379-395.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:jocore:v:63:y:2019:i:9:p:2071-2097. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://pss.la.psu.edu/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.