Liquid or Solid Warfare? Autocratic States, Non-State Armed Groups and the Socio-Spatial Dimension of Warfare in Yemen

Bibliographic Data

ID3948544
AuthorsMax Mutschler (0000-0002-4071-090X, BICC - Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies, corresponding author), Marius Bales (0000-0002-9775-8437, BICC - Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies)
Year2024
Volume29
Issue1
Pages319-347
Publication date2024-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueGeopolitics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1465-0045 • E-ISSN: 1557-3028
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14650045.2023.2165915
OpenAlexW4318218570
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited42

Precision-strike warfare from a distance is frequently presented as a particularly democratic way of war. Governments of democratic states avoid boots on the ground, as they fear not getting re-elected should a war result in many casualties and high economic costs. From the perspective of ‘liquid modernity’ (Bauman Citation2000), where power is uncoupled from the control of territory, liquid warfare, a way of war that eschews territorial confinement and related responsibilities for order-building, should be a tempting option for autocratic states and non-state armed groups (NSAGs), too – if they have the technological means at their disposal. Based on socio-spatial concepts from political geography, this article develops a typology of liquid and solid warfare and probes, whether and how the proliferation of precision-strike technology to Saudi Arabia and the Houthis has influenced the socio-spatial dimension of their warfare in the internationalised Yemeni civil war. The findings suggest that liquid warfare is not necessarily confined to Western, democratic conduct of war, posing the question whether these labels do fit anymore

Asymmetric warfare · Autocracy · Democracy · Guerrilla warfare · Modern warfare · Modernity · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Spanish Civil War · Global Security and Public Health · International Law and Human Rights · Law · Mathematics · Middle East and Rwanda Conflicts

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