Anarchy’s anatomy: Two-tiered security systems and Libya’s civil wars
Journal
The Journal of Strategic Studies
ISSN
0140-2390
ISSN-Digital
1743-937X
Type
journal article
Date Issued
2018-07-15
Author(s)
Abstract
No issue deserves more scrutiny than the mechanisms whereby popular unrest unleashes civil wars. We argue that one institution – two-tiered security systems – is particularly pernicious in terms of the accompanying civil war risk. These systems’ defining characteristic is the juxtaposition of small communally stacked units that protect regimes from internal adversaries with larger regular armed forces that deter external opponents. These systems aggravate civil war risks because stacked security units lack the size to repress widespread dissent, but inhibit rapid regime change through coup d’état. Regular militaries, meanwhile, fracture when ordered to employ force against populations from which they were recruited.
Language
English
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Refereed
Yes
Publisher
Routledge Elsevier
Publisher place
London
Start page
1
End page
29
Pages
29
Subject(s)
Division(s)
Eprints ID
253279