Rebellion, insurgency, civil war-conflict within a society is customarily treated as a matter of domestic politics and analysts generally focus their attention on local causes. Yet fighting between governments and opposition groups is rarely confined to the domestic arena. "Internal" wars often spill across national boundaries, rebel organizations frequently find sanctuaries in neighboring countries, and insurgencies give rise to disputes between states. In Rebels without Borders, which will appeal to students of international and civil war and those developing policies to contain the regional diffusion of conflict, Idean Salehyan examines transnational rebel organizations in civil conflicts, utilizing cross-national datasets as well as in-depth case studies. He shows how external Contra bases in Honduras and Costa Rica facilitated the Nicaraguan civil war and how the Rwandan civil war spilled over into the Democratic Republic of the Congo, fostering a regional war. He also looks at other cross-border insurgencies, such as those of the Kurdish PKK and Taliban fighters in Pakistan. Salehyan reveals that external sanctuaries feature in the political history of more than half of the world's armed insurgencies since 1945, and are also important in fostering state-to-state conflicts.
Rebels who are unable to challenge the state on its own turf look for mobilization opportunities abroad. Neighboring states that are too weak to prevent rebel access, states that wish to foster instability in their rivals, and large refugee diasporas provide important opportunities for insurgent groups to establish external bases. Such sanctuaries complicate intelligence gathering, counterinsurgency operations, and efforts at peacemaking. States that host rebels intrude into negotiations between governments and opposition movements and can block progress toward peace when they pursue their own agendas.
Rebellion, insurgency, civil war-conflict within a society is customarily treated as a matter of domestic politics and analysts generally focus their attention on local causes. Yet fighting between governments and opposition groups is rarely confined to the domestic arena. "Internal" wars often spill across national boundaries, rebel organizations frequently find sanctuaries in neighboring countries, and insurgencies give rise to disputes between states.
In Rebels without Borders, which will appeal to students of international and civil war and those developing policies to contain the regional diffusion of conflict, Idean Salehyan examines transnational rebel organizations in civil conflicts, utilizing cross-national datasets as well as in-depth case studies. He shows how external Contra bases in Honduras and Costa Rica facilitated the Nicaraguan civil war and how the Rwandan civil war spilled over into the Democratic Republic of the Congo, fostering a regional war. He also looks at other cross-border insurgencies, such as those of the Kurdish PKK and Taliban fighters in Pakistan. Salehyan reveals that external sanctuaries feature in the political history of more than half of the world's armed insurgencies since 1945, and are also important in fostering state-to-state conflicts.
Rebels who are unable to challenge the state on its own turf look for mobilization opportunities abroad. Neighboring states that are too weak to prevent rebel access, states that wish to foster instability in their rivals, and large refugee diasporas provide important opportunities for insurgent groups to establish external bases. Such sanctuaries complicate intelligence gathering, counterinsurgency operations, and efforts at peacemaking. States that host rebels intrude into negotiations between governments and opposition movements and can block progress toward peace when they pursue their own agendas.
Industry Reviews
"This well-written book adds another layer to the archetypal analysis of modern warfare, focusing on the influence of transnational insurgencies on conflict from a geopolitical perspective. Salehyan discusses the use that insurgents make of sanctuaries away from the battlefield and the complications this poses for intelligence gathering, counterinsurgency ops, and peacekeeping."-Soldier: Magazine of the British Army "What happens when rebel organizations operate in more than one country? Idean Salehyan argues that although transnational rebels often benefit from interstate conflicts, they also can exacerbate or even create international disputes. Rebels without Borders significantly contributes to our understanding of the interactions between civil and interstate conflicts."-Comparative Political Studies "Rebels without Borders is an interesting and important contribution to the study of civil war. Idean Salehyan's argument provides real insights into the causes and conduct of such conflicts. It is a model of twenty-first century political science-clearly written, a strong multimethod research design, ambitious and, ultimately, very persuasive."-Stephen Saideman, McGill University "Rebels without Borders provides an innovative theoretical treatment of how transnational rebels affect the onset and duration of civil wars around the world. Idean Salehyan's rigorous application of quantitative and qualitative methods adds clarity to the literature on non-state actors and internal conflict. This book will be useful for courses on civil war, forced migration, and the causes of war."-Sarah Kenyon Lischer, Wake Forest University
