Compliant Rebels

Abstract

Seventeen million people have died in civil wars and rebel violence has disrupted the lives of millions more. In a fascinating contribution to the active literature on civil wars, this book finds that some contemporary rebel groups actually comply with international law amid the brutality of civil conflicts around the world. Rather than celebrating the existence of compliant rebels, the author traces the cause of this phenomenon and argues that compliant rebels emerge when rebel groups seek legitimacy in the eyes of domestic and international audiences that care about humanitarian consequences and human rights. By examining rebel groups' different behaviors such as civilian killing, child soldiering, and allowing access to detention centers, Compliant Rebels offers key messages and policy lessons about engaging rebel groups with an eye toward reducing civilian suffering in war zones.

Secessionist social services reduce the public costs of civilian killings: Experimental evidence from the United States and the United Kingdom

“…Secessionist rebels must gain international recognition of sovereignty to achieve their goal of becoming a state (Bob, 2005;Fazal, 2013;Lasley and Thyne, 2015;Cunningham, 2014). To gain international recognition, some secessionist rebels attempt to cultivate legitimacy internationally (Heraclides, 1990;Fazal, 2013;Jo, 2015;Stewart, 2018;Seymour, 2017). One of the ways secessionist insurgents attempt to legitimate themselves is by engaging in certain behaviors that they believe will be looked upon favorably by the international community, while eschewing other behaviors that they believe will be looked upon unfavorably (Heraclides, 1990;Lasley and Thyne, 2015;Fortna, 2015;Jo, 2015;Huang, 2016a;Stewart, 2018;Fazal, 2018b).…”

“…To gain international recognition, some secessionist rebels attempt to cultivate legitimacy internationally (Heraclides, 1990;Fazal, 2013;Jo, 2015;Stewart, 2018;Seymour, 2017). One of the ways secessionist insurgents attempt to legitimate themselves is by engaging in certain behaviors that they believe will be looked upon favorably by the international community, while eschewing other behaviors that they believe will be looked upon unfavorably (Heraclides, 1990;Lasley and Thyne, 2015;Fortna, 2015;Jo, 2015;Huang, 2016a;Stewart, 2018;Fazal, 2018b). Two common legitimizing behaviors are complying with international expectations regarding wartime violence (Fazal, 2013;Fortna, 2015;Lasley and Thyne, 2015;Stanton, 2016) and the development of robust governing institutions (Grynkewich, 2008;Mampilly, 2011;Arjona, 2016;Stewart, 2018).…”

“…Because of these public costs, secessionists often avoid using terrorism and violence against civilians (Fazal, 2013;Stanton, 2016). Moreover, limiting civilian victimization adheres to international expectations and norms of warfare, thereby increasing the perceived legitimacy of the organization and its goals (Fazal, 2013;Lasley and Thyne, 2015;Jo, 2015;Stanton, 2016). Secessionists who refrain from using indiscriminate violence against civilians demonstrate a capacity to instill discipline and control, contributing to an overall sense of order.…”

“…These state-building and terrorism-avoiding strategiesand efforts to publicize them-reflect the wartime actions of numerous contemporary and historical secessionist insurgencies (Stewart, 2018;Huang, 2016a;Fazal, 2013). Secessionists believe that engaging in and publicizing these behaviors will increase international legitimacy (Stewart, 2018;Huang, 2016a;Jo, 2015;Fazal, 2013), which may promote the secessionists' ultimate goal of international recognition (Seymour, 2017;Heraclides, 1990). However, existing research focuses overwhelmingly on how secessionist behaviors affect the opinions of local civilians in the area of conflict (but see Huff and Kruszewska, 2016).…”

“…In this article, we examine how international audiences respond to information about two commonly used strategies of secession: avoiding civilian predation (Fortna, 2015;Fazal, 2013;Kalyvas, 2006) and social service provision (Stewart, 2018;Arjona, 2016;Mampilly, 2011). We focus on secessionist insurgencies because these groups are especially reliant on the international system for recognition (Huang, 2016a;Jo, 2015;Fazal, 2013;Coggins, 2011;Mampilly, 2011). Building on previous research into foreign policy attitudes, we argue that secessionists can cultivate legitimacy among international audiences by avoiding killing civilians and by state-building.…”