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Gambling with Violence tackles a global problem that is particularly consequential for Pakistan and India: state outsourcing of violence to ordinary civilians, criminals, and ex-insurgents. Drawing on over 200 interviews, archival research, and fieldwork conducted in Islamabad, Srinagar, New Delhi, Dhaka, Diyarbakir, Ankara, Moscow, London, and Washington, D.C., this book introduces the "balance-of-interests" thesis to deepen our understanding of state-nonstate alliances in civil war. Incorporating international case studies of previously underexplored conduct and little-known governmental alliances with criminals and ex-rebels, this book reveals configurations of local power and actors' interests that result in distinct alliance patterns and demonstrates the framework's applicability in South Asia and beyond.
Sommario
- Acknowledgments
- CHAPTER 1: Introduction
- CHAPTER 2: State-Nonstate Alliances in Civil War: A New Balance-of-Interests Theory
- CHAPTER 3: Saving the House of Islam: Pakistan's "Volunteers" in the War of 1971
- CHAPTER 4 "Guns Plus Interest:" Renegades and Villagers in India's Kashmir War
- CHAPTER 5: Tribal "Awakenings" in Pakistan and India
- CHAPTER 6: All the State's Proxies in Turkey and Russia
- CHAPTER 7: Conclusion
- Notes
- Index
Info autore
Yelena Biberman is an assistant professor of political science at Skidmore College and nonresident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council's South Asia Center. She specializes in the study of political violence, South Asian politics, and unconventional warfare.
Riassunto
In Gambling with Violence, Yelena Biberman tackles a global problem that is particularly consequential for Pakistan and India: state outsourcing of violence to ordinary civilians, criminals, and ex-insurgents. Why would these countries gamble with their own national security by outsourcing violence - arming nonstate actors inside their own borders? Drawing on over 200 interviews, archival research, and fieldwork conducted across Asia, Europe, and North America, Biberman introduces the "balance-of-interests" thesis to deepen our understanding of state-nonstate alliances in civil war. This framework centers on the distribution of power during war and shows how various combinations of interests result in distinct types of coalitions. Incorporating case studies of civil war and counterinsurgency, her book sheds light on how militias, alliances, and South Asian security connect today.
Testo aggiuntivo
Yelena Biberman offers an important new argument about the sources of alliances between governments and non-state armed groups. Combining a novel typology, clear theoretical argument, and detailed comparisons in South Asia and beyond, this work makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of state-armed group relations in the contemporary world.
