Dovish Hawks

How Leaders’ Combat Experience Influences the End of Civil Conflicts in Peace Agreements

Bibliographic Data

ID6283462
AuthorsJuliana Tappe Ortiz (0000-0003-1981-7945, German Institute for Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, Germany, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume69
Issue9
Pages1608-1627
Publication date2025-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Conflict Resolution (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-0027 • E-ISSN: 1552-8766
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/00220027241309284
OpenAlexW4405694177
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited59

Who are the leaders who end civil wars through peace agreements? I theorize that the prior combat experience of a state leader is an important life experience with direct relevance for how leaders evaluate conflict outcomes. Combat experience increases sensitivity to human losses and gives the state leader a hawkish reputation, increasing internal support, boosting their risk-tolerance, and convincing the rebel leader to take the leader seriously. Using a nested research design, I show that civil wars are more likely to terminate in peace agreements when the leader in charge knows the battlefield. I supplement the quantitative analysis of all state leaders in civil conflicts from 1989 to 2015 with a qualitative pathway case of Indonesia’s President Yudhoyono. These findings expand upon insights on leaders’ attributes indicating that prior combat experience has different effects on potential conflict outcomes in intrastate than in international wars

Battlefield · Internal conflict · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Relevance (law · Reputation · Spanish Civil War · State (computer science · Law · Peace and Human Rights Education · Political Conflict and Governance · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence

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