Violence on the Home Front

Interstate Rivalry and Pro-Government Militias

Bibliographic Data

ID4087137
AuthorsHarrison Akins (Department of Political Science, University of Tennessee—Knoxville, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume33
Issue3
Pages466-488
Publication date2021-04-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueTerrorism and Political Violence (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0954-6553 • E-ISSN: 1556-1836
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/09546553.2018.1548353
OpenAlexW2911254990
LanguageEN
Citations received4

With an increased focus on the role of pro-government militias in understanding intra-state conflict, scholars have primarily argued that states use militias as a proxy of the government because of low capacity or as a means of avoiding responsibility for violence against civilians. However, states with both high capacity and a willingness to commit violence against civilians have also relied upon pro-government militias in counterinsurgency operations. This paper argues that states involved in enduring interstate rivalries are more likely to use pro-government militias in order to reserve conventional military forces for potential conflict with their rival. Based on a case study of India’s Kashmir insurgency and logit analysis of pro-government militia data from 1981 to 2001, the findings provide empirical support for this theory and are robust to alternative measures and model specifications

Commit · Economics · Insurgency · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Rivalry · Sociology · Law · Military History and Strategy · Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East · South Asian Studies and Conflicts

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