What Do We Know about Civil Wars?

Description

Since World War II, civil wars have replaced interstate wars as the most frequent and deadly form of armed conflict globally. How do we account for when and where civil wars are likely to occur, when and how they are likely to end, and whether or not they will recur? In this timely book, leading scholars guide us through what the latest research tells us about the onset, duration, outcomes, and recurrence of civil wars, as well as the ongoing consequences of conflicts in war-torn countries such as Syria, Sudan, and Rwanda. In mapping out the current state of our knowledge about civil conflicts, the authors also identify what we do not know about civil wars. The book describes new directions in civil-war research, including transitional justice institutions in post-conflict environments, the “resource curse,” the role of women, and the relationship between the environment and civil conflict. The authors also highlight new trends in civil-war data collection that have enabled scholars to examine the geographic and temporal patterns of armed conflict. This authoritative text offers both an accessible and current overview of current knowledge and an agenda for future research. With contributions by Halvard Buhaug, David E. Cunningham, Kathleen Gallagher Cunningham, Jacqueline H. R. DeMeritt, Karl DeRouen Jr., Paul F. Diehl, Andrew Enterline, Erika Forsberg, Scott Gates, Kristian Skrede Gleditsch, Nils Petter Gleditsch, Caroline A. Hartzell, Cullen Hendrix, Jacob Kathman, Christopher Linebarger, T. David Mason, Erik Melander, Sara McLaughlin Mitchell, Alyssa K. Prorok, Idean Salehyan, Lee J. M. Seymour, Megan Shannon, Benjamin Smith, David Sobek, Clayton L. Thyne, Henrik Urdal, Joseph K. Young Contents Figures Acknowledgments Acronyms What Do We Know about Civil Wars?: Introduction and Overview Part I. FACTORS THAT BRING ABOUT CIVIL WAR Chapter 1. Introduction—Patterns of Armed Conflict since 1945 Chapter 2. Antecedents of Civil War Onset: Greed, Grievance, and State Repression Chapter 3. Identity Issues and Civil War: Ethnic and Religious Divisions Chapter 4. State Capacity, Regime Type, and Civil War Chapter 5. Transnational Dimensions of Civil Wars: Clustering, Contagion, and Connectedness Part II. FACTORS THAT END CIVIL WARS AND PROMOTE PEACE Chapter 6. Third Party Intervention and the Duration and Outcomes of Civil Wars Chapter 7. Ripe for Resolution: Third Party Mediation and Negotiating Peace Agreements Chapter 8. Negotiated Peace: Power Sharing in Peace Agreements Chapter 9. Breaking the Conflict Trap: The Impact of Peacekeeping on Violence and Democratization in the Post-Conflict Context Chapter 10. The Legacies of Civil War: Health, Education, and Economic Development Part III. EMERGING TRENDS IN CIVIL WAR RESEARCH Chapter 11. Transitional Justice: Prospects for Postwar Peace and Human Rights Chapter 12. Gender and Civil Wars Chapter 13. Exploring the Resource–Civil War Nexus Chapter 14. Environment and Conflict Chapter 15. Trends in Civil War Data: Geography, Organizations, and Events Notes References Index About the Contributors