Christopher Linebarger
Biographic Data
| ID | 1418397 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Christopher Linebarger |
| GIVEN NAMES | Christopher |
| FAMILY NAME | Linebarger |
| SIGNATURE | LINEBARGER C |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Massachusetts Lowell |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1183-1374 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 19 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 255 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 19 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2012 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
High Threat Environments and Alliances Among Militant Groups of Dissimilar Ideologies
Correlates of radical localism across American counties
Radical localism is a sociological phenomenon in the United States that prioritizes county interests over federal mandates. It often involves non-government actors, such as militias or armed movements, and government actors, such as elected officials. We seek to unearth the relationships between radical localism and the sociological conditions that may aggravate such extremist ideas. In this study, we examine the local conditions that may foster …
Forever wars: Divided government and the termination of interventions in support of civil war governments
Why do third-party states continue interventions in support of governments fighting civil wars even when continuing to do so appears futile from a military standpoint? To answer this question, we focus on third-party state domestic politics, theorising that institutional characteristics condition the likelihood that the third party will terminate support to a civil war government before a conflict ends. When a third-party state’s legislature and …
Why Do Leaders Build Walls? Domestic Politics, Leader Survival, and The Fortification of Borders
States around the world are fortifying their international borders at unprecedented rates. While only seven states had fortified their borders with walls or fences as of the end of World War Two, this number has now grown to more than 75. Why do states build walls on their international borders? While states may build walls to ameliorate the consequences of cross-border economic inequalities and to defend against transnational security threats, w…
Counter-Insurgency Strategies and Transnational Attacks by Rebel Groups
International attacks by rebel groups are an historically important phenomenon. Yet, few scholars have sought to understand why some rebel organizations “go abroad” and commence international attacks and some do not. We theorize that a rebel group’s decision to attack internationally is partly the result of its home-state’s counter-insurgency strategy. Home-states that employ broad-based repression discourage rebels from engaging in international…
Playing the Ethnic Card: Diversion, Transborder Ethnic Ties, and Sponsorship of Rebel Movements
Under what circumstances do third-party states oppose governments that marginalize their ethnic kin in foreign civil conflicts? We argue that the effect of transborder ethnic ties on third-party support for rebel movements depends upon two factors: (1) a constellation of ethnic power relations in which an ethnicity with access to political power in a potential intervener but is marginalized in a civil conflict state and (2) the political insecuri…
Preventive medicine: Domestic repression and foreign revolutionary states
Do governments repress in order to defend themselves against the threat posed by the geographic proximity of victorious rebel forces? I theorize that the victory of rebel forces in armed conflict, and the subsequent creation of a revolutionary regime, provides a model for mobilization to would-be rebels and that this, in turn, leads government authorities to deploy domestic repression in order to defend themselves. This relationship is conditiona…
Electoral Integrity and Election-Related Conflict
Why are some elections contested with social unrest and protest – sometimes violent – while others pass with little conflict? We focus our study on two types of election, each of which is defined with respect to different types of fraud: “unfree elections,” or those in which elites manipulate electoral laws and institutions, and “unfair elections,” or those in which elites manipulate votes and voters during the campaign. Unfree elections are not …
Teaching about Oppression and Rebellion: The “Peasants Are Revolting” Game
Jean Jacques Rousseau wrote that “Man is born free, but is everywhere in chains.” Whereas the former claim of the quote is contestable and gendered, the latter part is empirically true from slavery to economic exploitation and widespread oppression that occurs to this day. Nevertheless, history shows that rarely will people take up weapons and rebel against the powerful. We have found that students often do not understand why this should be the c…
Do Walls Work? The Effectiveness of Border Barriers in Containing the Cross-Border Spread of Violent Militancy
Since the end of the Cold War, walls, fences, and fortifications have been constructed on interstate borders at a rapid rate. It remains unclear, however, whether these fortifications provide effective security. We explore whether border fortifications provide security against the international spread of violent militancy. Although barriers can reduce the likelihood that militant activity diffuses across international borders, their effectiveness…
Keeping threat at arm’s length: Counter-revolutionary interventions by third-party states in support of governments
During the 1970s the military juntas in South America engaged in a cross-national campaign of repression, code-named Operation Condor, targeted against leftist militant groups inspired to action by the Cuban Revolution. This case illustrates an understudied motivation for third-party intervention in domestic conflict: counter-revolution. We therefore formulate a theory in which revolutions shock the international system by empowering new revoluti…
Curbing Enthusiasm? Democratic Third Parties & Commitment to Civil War Governments
Democracies are capable of committing exceptional resources toward interventions on behalf of governments threatened by civil war. Yet, the security benefits obtained from interventions are often indirect, decisive outcomes remain elusive, and fatalities of military personnel salient to the public. These qualities of intervention can lead a democratic publics to pressure political leaders to end to an intervention. To avoid these political costs …
Third‐Party State Domestic Politics and Conflict Management During Interventions into Civil Conflicts
Objective When do third‐party states engaged in military support of civil war governments resort to conflict management, such as negotiation or mediation, with rebels? Current research underemphasizes the role of third‐party state domestic conditions as precipitating the resort to conflict management. To do so, we formulate two explanations linking third‐party state domestic politics to conflict management with rebels: (1) gambling for resurrecti…
Shaken or stirred? Terrorism and third-party state resolve in civil war interventions
Does terrorism against third-party state interveners affect their willingness to continue an intervention into a civil war? Drawing on research examining the impact of terrorism on partisanship, public opinion, and political survival, as well as the targeting of states by terrorists, we link terrorist attacks originating from a civil war state with an intervening state’s resolve to continue an ongoing military intervention into a civil war in sup…
Dangerous lessons: Rebel learning and mobilization in the international system
Contemporary research on the international diffusion of civil conflict privileges physical, proximity-based variables like conflict spillover and refugee flows. I argue that the international diffusion of civil strife can occur through a learning mechanism, and that this phenomenon may occur on a worldwide basis. Individuals most likely to rebel, or proto-rebels, may learn about the utility of rebellion before mobilizing and violently challenging…
Civil War Diffusion and the Emergence of Militant Groups, 1960–2001
In this research note, I argue that scholars of the international diffusion of civil conflict would benefit from directly measuring rebel mobilization prior to the onset of civil war. To better understand the way in which international processes facilitate dissidents overcoming the collective action problem inherent in rebellion, I focus on militant organizations and model the timing of their emergence. I use several data sets on militant groups …
Elections and Social Conflict in Africa, 1990–2009
Presidential and Media Leadership of Public Opinion on Iraq
Much research disputes the president's ability to lead public opinion and shows media to have influenced public opinion concerning the war in Iraq. We argue that although news tone is likely to have affected public support for the war, presidential rhetoric could be influential for two reasons. First, heightened presidential attention to the war increases the public's accessibility to the president's perspective on the war. Second, a survey quest…
Social Conflict in Africa: A New Database
We describe the Social Conflict in Africa Database (SCAD), a new event dataset for conducting research and analysis on various forms of social and political unrest in Africa. SCAD contains information on over 7,200 instances of protests, riots, strikes, government repression, communal violence, and other forms of unrest for 47 African countries from 1990–2010. SCAD includes information on event dates, actors and targets, lethality, georeferenced …
Social Conflict in Africa: A New Database
We describe the Social Conflict in Africa Database (SCAD), a new event dataset for conducting research and analysis on various forms of social and political unrest in Africa. SCAD contains information on over 7,200 instances of protests, riots, strikes, government repression, communal violence, and other forms of unrest for 47 African countries from 1990–2010. SCAD includes information on event dates, actors and targets, lethality, georeferenced …
Elections and Social Conflict in Africa, 1990–2009
Do Walls Work? The Effectiveness of Border Barriers in Containing the Cross-Border Spread of Violent Militancy
Since the end of the Cold War, walls, fences, and fortifications have been constructed on interstate borders at a rapid rate. It remains unclear, however, whether these fortifications provide effective security. We explore whether border fortifications provide security against the international spread of violent militancy. Although barriers can reduce the likelihood that militant activity diffuses across international borders, their effectiveness…
Why Do Leaders Build Walls? Domestic Politics, Leader Survival, and The Fortification of Borders
States around the world are fortifying their international borders at unprecedented rates. While only seven states had fortified their borders with walls or fences as of the end of World War Two, this number has now grown to more than 75. Why do states build walls on their international borders? While states may build walls to ameliorate the consequences of cross-border economic inequalities and to defend against transnational security threats, w…
Presidential and Media Leadership of Public Opinion on Iraq
Much research disputes the president's ability to lead public opinion and shows media to have influenced public opinion concerning the war in Iraq. We argue that although news tone is likely to have affected public support for the war, presidential rhetoric could be influential for two reasons. First, heightened presidential attention to the war increases the public's accessibility to the president's perspective on the war. Second, a survey quest…
Dangerous lessons: Rebel learning and mobilization in the international system
Contemporary research on the international diffusion of civil conflict privileges physical, proximity-based variables like conflict spillover and refugee flows. I argue that the international diffusion of civil strife can occur through a learning mechanism, and that this phenomenon may occur on a worldwide basis. Individuals most likely to rebel, or proto-rebels, may learn about the utility of rebellion before mobilizing and violently challenging…
Teaching about Oppression and Rebellion: The “Peasants Are Revolting” Game
Jean Jacques Rousseau wrote that “Man is born free, but is everywhere in chains.” Whereas the former claim of the quote is contestable and gendered, the latter part is empirically true from slavery to economic exploitation and widespread oppression that occurs to this day. Nevertheless, history shows that rarely will people take up weapons and rebel against the powerful. We have found that students often do not understand why this should be the c…
Civil War Diffusion and the Emergence of Militant Groups, 1960–2001
In this research note, I argue that scholars of the international diffusion of civil conflict would benefit from directly measuring rebel mobilization prior to the onset of civil war. To better understand the way in which international processes facilitate dissidents overcoming the collective action problem inherent in rebellion, I focus on militant organizations and model the timing of their emergence. I use several data sets on militant groups …
Shaken or stirred? Terrorism and third-party state resolve in civil war interventions
Does terrorism against third-party state interveners affect their willingness to continue an intervention into a civil war? Drawing on research examining the impact of terrorism on partisanship, public opinion, and political survival, as well as the targeting of states by terrorists, we link terrorist attacks originating from a civil war state with an intervening state’s resolve to continue an ongoing military intervention into a civil war in sup…
Third‐Party State Domestic Politics and Conflict Management During Interventions into Civil Conflicts
Objective When do third‐party states engaged in military support of civil war governments resort to conflict management, such as negotiation or mediation, with rebels? Current research underemphasizes the role of third‐party state domestic conditions as precipitating the resort to conflict management. To do so, we formulate two explanations linking third‐party state domestic politics to conflict management with rebels: (1) gambling for resurrecti…
Social Conflict in Africa: A New Database
We describe the Social Conflict in Africa Database (SCAD), a new event dataset for conducting research and analysis on various forms of social and political unrest in Africa. SCAD contains information on over 7,200 instances of protests, riots, strikes, government repression, communal violence, and other forms of unrest for 47 African countries from 1990–2010. SCAD includes information on event dates, actors and targets, lethality, georeferenced …
Presidential and Media Leadership of Public Opinion on Iraq
Much research disputes the president's ability to lead public opinion and shows media to have influenced public opinion concerning the war in Iraq. We argue that although news tone is likely to have affected public support for the war, presidential rhetoric could be influential for two reasons. First, heightened presidential attention to the war increases the public's accessibility to the president's perspective on the war. Second, a survey quest…
Civil War Diffusion and the Emergence of Militant Groups, 1960–2001
In this research note, I argue that scholars of the international diffusion of civil conflict would benefit from directly measuring rebel mobilization prior to the onset of civil war. To better understand the way in which international processes facilitate dissidents overcoming the collective action problem inherent in rebellion, I focus on militant organizations and model the timing of their emergence. I use several data sets on militant groups …
Elections and Social Conflict in Africa, 1990–2009
Dangerous lessons: Rebel learning and mobilization in the international system
Contemporary research on the international diffusion of civil conflict privileges physical, proximity-based variables like conflict spillover and refugee flows. I argue that the international diffusion of civil strife can occur through a learning mechanism, and that this phenomenon may occur on a worldwide basis. Individuals most likely to rebel, or proto-rebels, may learn about the utility of rebellion before mobilizing and violently challenging…
Shaken or stirred? Terrorism and third-party state resolve in civil war interventions
Does terrorism against third-party state interveners affect their willingness to continue an intervention into a civil war? Drawing on research examining the impact of terrorism on partisanship, public opinion, and political survival, as well as the targeting of states by terrorists, we link terrorist attacks originating from a civil war state with an intervening state’s resolve to continue an ongoing military intervention into a civil war in sup…
Third‐Party State Domestic Politics and Conflict Management During Interventions into Civil Conflicts
Objective When do third‐party states engaged in military support of civil war governments resort to conflict management, such as negotiation or mediation, with rebels? Current research underemphasizes the role of third‐party state domestic conditions as precipitating the resort to conflict management. To do so, we formulate two explanations linking third‐party state domestic politics to conflict management with rebels: (1) gambling for resurrecti…
Keeping threat at arm’s length: Counter-revolutionary interventions by third-party states in support of governments
During the 1970s the military juntas in South America engaged in a cross-national campaign of repression, code-named Operation Condor, targeted against leftist militant groups inspired to action by the Cuban Revolution. This case illustrates an understudied motivation for third-party intervention in domestic conflict: counter-revolution. We therefore formulate a theory in which revolutions shock the international system by empowering new revoluti…
Curbing Enthusiasm? Democratic Third Parties & Commitment to Civil War Governments
Democracies are capable of committing exceptional resources toward interventions on behalf of governments threatened by civil war. Yet, the security benefits obtained from interventions are often indirect, decisive outcomes remain elusive, and fatalities of military personnel salient to the public. These qualities of intervention can lead a democratic publics to pressure political leaders to end to an intervention. To avoid these political costs …
Playing the Ethnic Card: Diversion, Transborder Ethnic Ties, and Sponsorship of Rebel Movements
Under what circumstances do third-party states oppose governments that marginalize their ethnic kin in foreign civil conflicts? We argue that the effect of transborder ethnic ties on third-party support for rebel movements depends upon two factors: (1) a constellation of ethnic power relations in which an ethnicity with access to political power in a potential intervener but is marginalized in a civil conflict state and (2) the political insecuri…
Preventive medicine: Domestic repression and foreign revolutionary states
Do governments repress in order to defend themselves against the threat posed by the geographic proximity of victorious rebel forces? I theorize that the victory of rebel forces in armed conflict, and the subsequent creation of a revolutionary regime, provides a model for mobilization to would-be rebels and that this, in turn, leads government authorities to deploy domestic repression in order to defend themselves. This relationship is conditiona…
Electoral Integrity and Election-Related Conflict
Why are some elections contested with social unrest and protest – sometimes violent – while others pass with little conflict? We focus our study on two types of election, each of which is defined with respect to different types of fraud: “unfree elections,” or those in which elites manipulate electoral laws and institutions, and “unfair elections,” or those in which elites manipulate votes and voters during the campaign. Unfree elections are not …
Teaching about Oppression and Rebellion: The “Peasants Are Revolting” Game
Jean Jacques Rousseau wrote that “Man is born free, but is everywhere in chains.” Whereas the former claim of the quote is contestable and gendered, the latter part is empirically true from slavery to economic exploitation and widespread oppression that occurs to this day. Nevertheless, history shows that rarely will people take up weapons and rebel against the powerful. We have found that students often do not understand why this should be the c…
Do Walls Work? The Effectiveness of Border Barriers in Containing the Cross-Border Spread of Violent Militancy
Since the end of the Cold War, walls, fences, and fortifications have been constructed on interstate borders at a rapid rate. It remains unclear, however, whether these fortifications provide effective security. We explore whether border fortifications provide security against the international spread of violent militancy. Although barriers can reduce the likelihood that militant activity diffuses across international borders, their effectiveness…
Counter-Insurgency Strategies and Transnational Attacks by Rebel Groups
International attacks by rebel groups are an historically important phenomenon. Yet, few scholars have sought to understand why some rebel organizations “go abroad” and commence international attacks and some do not. We theorize that a rebel group’s decision to attack internationally is partly the result of its home-state’s counter-insurgency strategy. Home-states that employ broad-based repression discourage rebels from engaging in international…
Forever wars: Divided government and the termination of interventions in support of civil war governments
Why do third-party states continue interventions in support of governments fighting civil wars even when continuing to do so appears futile from a military standpoint? To answer this question, we focus on third-party state domestic politics, theorising that institutional characteristics condition the likelihood that the third party will terminate support to a civil war government before a conflict ends. When a third-party state’s legislature and …
Why Do Leaders Build Walls? Domestic Politics, Leader Survival, and The Fortification of Borders
States around the world are fortifying their international borders at unprecedented rates. While only seven states had fortified their borders with walls or fences as of the end of World War Two, this number has now grown to more than 75. Why do states build walls on their international borders? While states may build walls to ameliorate the consequences of cross-border economic inequalities and to defend against transnational security threats, w…
Correlates of radical localism across American counties
Radical localism is a sociological phenomenon in the United States that prioritizes county interests over federal mandates. It often involves non-government actors, such as militias or armed movements, and government actors, such as elected officials. We seek to unearth the relationships between radical localism and the sociological conditions that may aggravate such extremist ideas. In this study, we examine the local conditions that may foster …
High Threat Environments and Alliances Among Militant Groups of Dissimilar Ideologies
Political science (18 works) · Politics (18 works) · Law (16 works) · Political Conflict and Governance (16 works) · Political economy (16 works) · Law (15 works) · Sociology (15 works) · Economics (8 works) · Spanish Civil War (8 works) · Psychology (7 works)