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Denial and punishment in the North Caucasus

Author

Listed:
  • Monica Duffy Toft

    (Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford)

  • Yuri M Zhukov

    (Department of Government, Harvard University)

Abstract

A growing literature on the subnational diffusion of armed conflict rests on the proposition that political violence triggers more violence, in the same locality and elsewhere. Yet state efforts to contain such uprisings remain largely unexplored, theoretically and empirically. Drawing on a mathematical model of epidemics, we formalize the logic of conflict diffusion and derive conditions under which state coercion might limit the spread of insurgent violence. Using a new dataset of insurgent and government violence in Russia’s North Caucasus from 2000 to 2008, we evaluate the relative effectiveness of four coercive strategies: (1) denial, which manipulates the costs of expanding insurgent activity to new locations, (2) punishment, which manipulates the costs of sustained fighting in contested areas, (3) denial and punishment, which does both, and (4) no action, which does neither. We find denial to be most effective at containing insurgent violence. Punishment is least effective, and even counterproductive. Not only does such a strategy fail to prevent the spillover of violence to new locations, but it may amplify the risk of continued fighting in contested areas. In the Caucasus, denial is found to be the least inflammatory counter-insurgency option for Russia. For it to succeed, Russia should physically isolate centers of insurgent activity from regions of nonviolence and avoid the temptation of punitive reprisals.

Suggested Citation

  • Monica Duffy Toft & Yuri M Zhukov, 2012. "Denial and punishment in the North Caucasus," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 49(6), pages 785-800, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:joupea:v:49:y:2012:i:6:p:785-800
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Nakao, Keisuke, 2019. "Moving Forward vs. Inflicting Costs in a Random-Walk Model of War," MPRA Paper 96071, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Yuri M. Zhukov, 2014. "Theory of Indiscriminate Violence," Working Paper 365551, Harvard University OpenScholar.
    3. Michael Freedman & Esteban F. Klor, 2023. "When Deterrence Backfires: House Demolitions, Palestinian Radicalization, and Israeli Fatalities," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 67(7-8), pages 1592-1617, August.
    4. Arzu Kibris, 2021. "The geo-temporal evolution of violence in civil conflicts: A micro analysis of conflict diffusion on a new event data set," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 58(5), pages 885-899, September.
    5. Nakao, Keisuke, 2017. "Denial vs. Punishment: Strategies Shape War, but War Itself Affects Strategies," MPRA Paper 81418, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Monica D. Toft, 2013. "The Politics Of Religious Outbidding," The Review of Faith & International Affairs, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(3), pages 10-19, September.
    7. Christian Davenport, 2022. "Against polarization," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 39(4), pages 375-393, July.
    8. Carl Müller-Crepon & Philipp Hunziker & Lars-Erik Cederman, 2021. "Roads to Rule, Roads to Rebel: Relational State Capacity and Conflict in Africa," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 65(2-3), pages 563-590, February.
    9. Keisuke Nakao, 2022. "Denial and punishment in war," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 59(2), pages 166-179, March.
    10. Nakao, Keisuke, 2019. "Modeling Deterrence by Denial and by Punishment," MPRA Paper 95100, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Patricia Lynne Sullivan & Johannes Karreth, 2019. "Strategies and Tactics in Armed Conflict: How Governments and Foreign Interveners Respond to Insurgent Threats," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 63(9), pages 2207-2232, October.
    12. Yuri M. Zhukov & Charles H. Anderton & Jurgen Brauer, "undated". "On the Logistics of Violence," Working Paper 255276, Harvard University OpenScholar.
    13. Vera Mironova & Sam Whitt, 2020. "Mobilizing civilians into high-risk forms of violent collective action," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 57(3), pages 391-405, May.

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