Cross-border clientelism, commitment, and the protraction of irredentist conflicts

Bibliographic Data

ID13020744
AuthorsChristopher M Jackson (0000-0002-7506-600X, Loyola Marymount University, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume10
Issue3
Pages350-373
Publication date2024-11-27
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEuropean Journal of International Security (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2057-5637 • E-ISSN: 2057-5645
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/eis.2024.48
OpenAlexW4404769627
LanguageEN
Citations received2

Irredentist disputes have produced distinct political ethnoterritories under the de jure sovereignty of recognised parent states, but the de facto political authority of external national homelands. This study problematises the relationship between national homeland and claimed ethnoterritory as a nested game in which, in addition to bargaining with each other, they face internal competition, outbidding, and changing costs of conflict, ultimately reducing commitment to external-facing bargains. This study contends that homelands pursuing irredentist conflict can reduce uncertainty and increase commitment from ethnoterritories by building hegemonic cross-border clientelist pyramids that link ethnoterritorial publics’ and elites’ political survival and livelihoods to supporting homelands’ preferences. Further, these structures marginalise alternative elites who may seek to contravene preferences by escalating conflict and increasing costs on homelands or bargaining across ethnic cleavages. Case studies of protracted conflicts in Cyprus, Kosovo, and Croatia support this argument and further find that public-sector distribution linked to the homeland is most effective in reducing competition and uncertainty, thereby increasing long-term commitment to preferences

Business · Clientelism · Political science · Politics · Law · Political Systems and Governance

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access